Walking the Thin Line
by ThePushThatComesToShove
Summary: AU. Slash. Jaimundo, KimClay. EXTREME WAFF. The Xiaolin cast in a University Universe. Jack and Rai are roommates in a University dorm. Sexualities are questioned and social interactions are made. Xiaolin U keeps its title as unusual.
1. Rich and Genius: a Dangerous Mix

**Chapter One - Rich and Genius: a Dangerous Mix**

Jack Spicer was a genius. And he was rich. It was a dangerous mix, but these things happen.

Rich, smart Jack Spicer attended a university, but not just any university. It was one for the smart, and for the rich: one for people like him. This university was quite the famous place, where those with incredible talent, money, smarts, or a mix of any of the three, gathered for intense study and examination. Well, that is what it _should_ be used for. Not that it wasn't; many smart pupils were collected at the large campus to study and to get tested for their future careers; but it was more than that. Especially with the new batch of freshman attending their first day at Xiaolin U.

Jack wandered into the main building, his dress shoes clicking softly against the linoleum floors. He was clad in the private school's uniform: a red jacket with black lapels with a white dress shirt underneath, paired with black slacks and a black tie. His jakcet was open and his tie was loose, but he didn't care. No one really did, just as long as he was wearing the stupid thing.

He walked past the front foyer and into the school's main office. Stopping in front of a table, he picked up a sheet that had all of his class times and locations, along with his dormitory building and number, and, lastly, his roommate. He raised an eyebrow at that last part. He didn't remember signing up for a room for two.

Beside him a group of friends stood, each of them grabbing their respective papers. There were three boys and a girl; one of them was tanned, had brown, gravity defying hair, and green eyes; another one was of a large build who had blue eyes and blond hair swept over his eyes; the last male was the shortest of the group, and he was bald and probably Asian; the girl of the group had an odd hairstyle - two pink pigtails stuck high on her round head and uneven highlighted bangs - and a few bangles hanging off of her wrists. The tanned boy gave him a look, as if trying to identify him.

Jack blinked at him before lowering his eyes to his paper. There was a picture of that boy near the bottom of the page, which probably meant that he was his roommate.

"Hey. You Jack Spicer?" The tanned boy said, his green eyes glancing back down at his paper again.

"Yeah," Jack replied, mimicking the other's movements, "You Raimundo Pedrosa?"

Raimundo nodded. "Call me Rai, it's shorter. I, uh, guess I'll be seeing you around, huh roomie?"

Jack nodded. He gave a wave before the group of friends departed, leaving him at the table in the office, which was starting to get just a little too crowded for his liking. He decided then that he should be making a leave of his own, heading toward dorm building number three.

* * *

Raimundo Pedrosa was an ordinary boy. Actually, no, that was a lie. Raimundo was quite the extraordinary person. He wasn't rich like the other students at Xiaolin U, but he was as just talented as anyone there, if not better: he had earned himself a scholarship to the prestigious university. There was really no other way for him to have been to gain entrance.

That trait was something that he shared in common with two of his friends, Omi and Clay. The three of them had met a few days before their first day at the main office getting a tour of campus. It turned out that the three of them were mere commoners with lots of talent; Omi was a home-schooled immigrant from China - who had moved to America two years ago - and was incredibly sheltered; Clay was from Texas and fit quite the bit of cowboy stereotypes. Thing about Clay was that he never really noticed that last part.

They had also met the last of the group, Kimiko, at the tour. She was at the front, trying to get the tour guide's attention to ask about the 'net connection. However, the students around her did not appreciate her urgent questions quite so much. They had pulled her into the crowd before she was yelled at, and she was grateful for their action.

They'd kept in contact after that meeting, getting to know each other a bit more before meeting up at campus for a second time. They went in to get their schedules, then parted once again to get to their dorms and settle in, maybe even go in to the introductory session at each of their classes.

So there sat Rai, leaning against the wall his bed was set against. He had packed his few belongings into the closet provided by the school - shoved his bag in there, too - and set up his laptop on the large desk pushed up against a wall in the middle of the room. It was almost as long as a table, most likely made to fit two people there. He was glad for the comfy, borderline luxurious room, sighing in content as a breeze ruffled his hair through the window.

The tanned boy wondered about his roommate, who had yet to show up. He wondered if the redhead was going to like him; he wondered if they would be friends; he wondered if those marks on his face were tattoos; he wondered if they would even talk to each other. They were probably going to be forced to interact in some way, seeing as they would be there for four years, and probably more to come.

As Raimundo continued to stare at the white walls of his dorm room, Jack Spicer then decided to make his dramatic entrance by slamming the door open loudly and flinging himself into the center of the room.

"Jack Spicer, boy genius, has just entered the room! So please, try your best to keep in your excitement in his presence and enjoy your day!"

The pale boy stood grinning in the middle of the room, hands on his hips with his chest slightly puffed out. His mouth had not opened during that announcement: instead, one of his robots had spoken for him. Rai stared in amazement at the robot that stood at about half of Jack's height. The machine merely bowed before going about and setting up Jack's things.

When the robot had removed itself from the center of attention, Rai got up and off of his bed and approached Jack.

"Nice entrance, Spicer," Rai stated, racking his brain for a conversation topic, "So, uh, going to any classes today?"

Jack looked at the slightly shorter boy curiously. Was he really attempting some sort of social interaction with him...? The robot usually scared people off. "...No, I don't plan on going. I heard that on the first day, barely any classes are open, and the few that are are just for telling people just what the hell they'll be doing this year, which I find to be unnecessary. So no. ...Why do you ask?"

Rai almost stopped, wondering for a brief moment why indeed he had asked, but made something off the top of his head, "I was wondering if you'd like to meet my friends, boy genius."

Jack's eyebrows rose as he resisted the tempation to roll his eyes. More social interaction... The pale student decided that he could handle that. Made up for his lack of such in his childhood, he reasoned to himself, following the Brazilian boy out of their dorm room as he started making cracks about his friends. Something about a short bald kid and a girl with a fiery temper. He shrugged. Couldn't be too bad.

Jack's robot hurried to the door and closed it before continuing its work in the now-empty dorm room.


	2. Fate

**Chapter Two - Fate**

"Okay, so these are my friends: Kimiko, Clay, and Omi," Raimundo stated, pointing to each person as he listed their names. Clay gave Jack a warm smile and a wave, Omi gave him a questioning glance, and Kimiko just looked at him. Jack took a self-conscious step back at the stares. "Guys, this is Jack Spicer, my roommate."

"Are you sick?" Omi asked, having to look up at the redhead because of his height, "You look awfully pale."

Rai opened his mouth to comment on the question, but Jack beat him to answering. "I am not sick, thank you very much! Me being pale is natural. You ever notice how yellow you are? Or how unnatural that girl's hair is?"

"Hey! Don't comment on my hair, pale boy," Kimiko growled, "Who's the one with the black makeup under his eyes and the stupid yellow goggles? Huh?"

"It's not makeup, you little-"

"Stop right there, partner! You two had better stop this here fightin', or else I'm gonna have to separate you two," Clay said, cutting Jack off. The redhead glanced up at the largely built man standing in front of him and stepped back, throwing his arms up defensively.

"All right, all right. No more comments on physical appearance. Unless, of course, it's to compliment my good looks," Jack said with a smirk. Kimiko scoffed at the comment, but was otherwise silent. Instead of speaking she chose to glower at the newcomer from a distance.

Rai glanced at all of his friends, making sure that the dust had cleared. "...All right, then. Wanna go out for ice cream? Jack's treat."

"All right!" Three out of five cheered in unison as Raimundo led the way of out campus, leaving a bewildered redhead standing alone outside of dorm building number three.

"...Hey! Wait! Why is it my treat?" Jack said, running to catch up to them.

"Because you're rich. That's why you're here, right?" Omi said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Jack took it as a blow to his intelligence.

"Hey! I deserve to be here as much as any of you guys do! Not just because I'm rich!"

"I'm sure Omi didn't mean it that way, Spicer. Right?" Rai said, giving Omi a sideways glance. He nodded. "Right. So let's just shut up for a bit before getting our ice cream, okay?"

Everyone nodded in silent agreement. Rai smiled inwardly at this as they continued on their way to the ice cream store across the street. It was a part of a small plaza full of other food places; there was a pizza place, a burger place, a sushi bar, and a mexican restaurant on the corner. Rai made a note to check the block for other places to eat, in case he ever got tired of this selection.

Nothing bad happened on their way to the little shop across the street, but Rai was still holding his breath as the group approached the front counter. Omi pressed his face up against the glass of the counter filled with ice cream; he had a good view of the cool area because of his height.

"Flavors, everyone?" Rai asked, his selected flavor already in mind.

"Chocolate for me," Jack piped up, his goggles frosted from the cold air in the room. Rai liked this kind of air; it was crisp, cold, refreshing. All though he like most airs, this was something he liked to savor during the day.

Rai's train of thought was cut off as Omi said, "I want this "bubble gum" flavored ice cream. It looks mystically delicious!"

Kimiko sighed. "It's _magically _delicious, Omi. Geez, can't even get a kids' cereal slogan right." The Japanese girl muttered that last part. "I want strawberry, Rai."

"I'll take mint chocolate chip, partner."

"All righty then..." Rai walked up to the cashier, taking Jack's wallet from his outstretched hand. "I'll have one scoop of vanilla on a cone, a scoop of strawberry also on a cone, chocolate, and mint chocolate chip, those on cones, also."

"That comes to... fifteen ninety-five, sir."

Rai handed a twenty to the cashier, keeping his hand out for the change as he watched his friends take their cones from another employee in the shop. He bit his lip to stifle a laigh once Jack decided to comment on Omi's choice of ice cream.

"Bubblegum, really. Who the hell likes that flavor besides little kids, anyway? And calling it mystically delicious. Oh, that's a laugh. Sheltered, much?" Jack grinned as he licked at his ice cream scoop.

"Hey! I'll have you know that I was raised in a very nice home. I was in fact sheltered very nicely, thank you very much."

Jack let out a barking laugh. "You don't get what I'm saying, do you, little guy?"

"Jack, stop teasing Omi. You shouldn't be so mean to kids, you know," Kimiko giggled, hiding her expression behind her ice cream.

"No one here is a kid no more, Missy. I think you should both be quiet and finish off your ice cream," Clay cut in, shutting the two up quickly. They were both still grinning as Rai joined the group again.

"It's nice to see that you kids are getting along so nicely," the Brazilian commented dryly.

"I guess that we should get back to campus now, before we all shrink down to Omi's size 'cause of the abuse of the word "kid"," Jack suggested, already heading towards the door. The rest filed behind him as they walked back, comments and cones thrown around from person to person.

* * *

Jack spun about in his leather chair - which was placed on the left side of the large desk, Raimundo's to the right - as he finished off his chocolate ice cream. Rai, who was sitting in his own chair on the other side, had just popped the end of his own cone into his mouth. He chewed slowly, his jaw working as he stared at his class schedule.

"Hmm, so when are your classes? We gonna be in the room at the same time, or what?" Jack asked, his turn to strike up conversation. He slid his paper toward the Brazilian boy for him to examine.

"Hnn. On Thursdays and Sundays we won't be free at the same time, if that's what you're asking about... Only two days of seven. It's like fate wants us to spend time together, huh?" Rai said, giving him a dazzling smile. Jack rolled his eyes.

"There's no such thing as fate," Jack said, though the firmness in his voice was empty. Some part of him wanted to be friends with the Brazilian boy. Okay, a lot of him wanted to, but that was only because he'd never really had a friend before. He was... curious. Yeah.

"If that's what you think, then sure, there is no fate. But don't be a stranger, alright?" Rai dimmed his smile down, going for disarming. "Even though I _am _pretty easy to get along with."

"Just so you don't get annoyed with me later on, right?" The thought of people wanting to spend time with Jack was... odd. Unfamiliar.

"No, of course not. Well, actually, that's just a bonus. You seem like a generally interesting person, Jack. With that show with the robot, I think you've shown your talents so far, even if it was a bit... Flashy."

Compliments were also unfamiliar. Jack blinked as he tried to take in the idea.

"You want do want to be friends, right?" Rai asked, raking a hand idly through his hair. He was trying for a nonchalant kind of tone, knowing better than to try and force anything down this guy's throat. Definitely not worth the effort, anyway.

"Of course!" Jack blurted. He flushed as his hands flew up over his mouth. Getting excited over this won't help your image at all, Spicer, Jack thought to himself, For all you know, he could be like everyone else.

Rai grinned at Jack's response, knowing his effect on most people. He sub-consciously puffed his chest, a complacent look dancing in his eyes. Amusement joined his smugness as the redhead ducked his head away from his vision, muttering angrily to try and hide his embarrassment.

"All right, then." Rai stretched, his legs going to the top of the desk to rest. "So, we won't be enemies, or whatever. That sound good to you?

"Uh. I guess."

The brunet chuckled. "You're one of those shut in types, aren't you? Spending all your free time tinkering at those robots of yours instead of getting and seeing the world."

Jack spluttered. Then he tried to bite his tongue to stop his ridiculous stuttering, resulting in a full body twitch in pain. There was no way he could deny that: his paleness and lack of social skill were a dead give away. But he refused to be embarrassed- well, he didn't want to show it, at least.

Rai laughed harder. "Don't sweat it man. I take care of my boys, alright? Now that you're living with me, I'll make sure to make your life a lot more interesting."

"Geez, and people call _me_ cocky," Jack managed to say. It was almost pathetic, that short response, and that thought was drilled home by Rai's dismissive laugh. "Am I really that hilarious to you, Pedrosa?"

"Very." The brunet calmed his amusement to a smile. "You're so socially inept it's almost cute."

Jack's face was practically glowing with his blush. "C-"Cute"? But guys don't call other guys cute!"

"Yeah, and that's why it's the perfect insult," Rai purred. "Come on, don't get your panties in a bunch, Spicer. I'm just messing with you."

His arms came up over his face as Jack tried to hide his embarrassment. "You're brutal."

"And you'll learn to love it." Rai clapped a hand onto Jack's back. "Get up man, there's something I wanna show you, I bet you'll find it hilarious."

The redhead tried to will his blush away as he approached Raimundo's side of the desk. If fate did exist... Jack didn't even want to finish that thought.


	3. Betcha Can't

**Walking the Thin Line**

Chapter Three - Betcha Can't

Raimundo quickly slammed the door shut behind him, the yelling coming from the other side becoming muffled. He grinned as Kimiko banged his fists against the door, the vibration tickling his back through his white hoodie. The brunet had to bite his lip to stop himself from giggling girlishly when he heard the girl on the other side groan loudly.

"Sorry, Kim, but you really need to focus on your studies instead of texting that friend of yours in Japan," Rai called over his shoulder, pressing his ear onto the wood of the door.

Another growl from the other side of the room alerted the Brazilian of his roommate's presence. Red eyes glared daggers at him as Jack motioned towards the papers scattered on his desk.

"I am _trying_ to _work_ here!" he complained, pen waving around in his gloved hands. "I've got an essay due soon, so--"

"Oh shut your trap, Spicer, I have a lesson of my own to teach here," Rai hissed in reply, jerking his thumb towards the door. Jack rolled his eyes and sighed in an exaggerated tone, setting his head on his arms. He figured that he should wait out the storm.

"But we still have two weeks until mid-terms!" Kimiko whined, her voice climbing into a high-pitched tone. She weakly hit the door again, the sound of her uniform skirt sliding against the door as she slid to her knees. "And I need that to help me study! It's my life line."

Rai scoffed, turning his head to glance at the slim Blackberry in his hands. "Yeah, sure, just like I need sarcasm to survive. I love it, but I guess that I could go a week without it." As soon as the words left his mouth, Rai groaned, knowing that the woman behind the door would use them against him. A bout of laughter from his pale roommate only made him feel worse.

"Oh man, bad example," he laughed, slapping his thigh. "Then again, you don't have much else, do you?"

The brunet narrowed green eyes at him, opening his mouth to reply. He shut it after a short moment of consideration, realizing that there were no words to redeem himself.

"Hmm, you wanna bet, Rai?" Kimiko asked, her tone impish. Rai shook his head in defeat and opened the door.

"Okay, I know what you're going to say, so just take the stupid thing," the Brazilian muttered, his eyes wary. He held his hand out, the Blackberry glistening under the light of the hall outside.

Kimiko shook her head, pushing his hand back to his body. She grinned as he blanched, her eyes glinting. "Oh no, you keep it. In fact, you can have it. If you can last a whole week without using sarcasm."

Rai spluttered incredulously, glancing from the electronic device in his hands to the devious, blue eyes of the woman in front of him. She lifted her eyebrows expectantly at him, knowing that he would never pass an opportunity to give up such an expensive item. The brunet groaned in distress, weighing the pros and cons.

"While you're deciding, why don't I pay for your bills? If you can last a _whole damn week_ without using sarcasm, I will give you that Blackberry and pay all your bills for it. Come on, I don't have all day."

He stared at her as she crossed her arms across her chest triumphantly, a smirk pulling at her round lips. Raimundo ran his thumb over the buttons, appreciating the smooth feel of them. There was no way in hell he could say no, but would he be able to do it?

"Offers ends in ten, nine, eight--"

"Okay, okay, I'll do it!" Rai exclaimed, holding the device to his chest. Kimiko stifled a laugh by biting her glossed lips. "I... Won't use sarcasm for the whole week."

"Are you sure? 'Cause if you can't, then I have bragging rights _and _your head for three days." She leaned in and peered up at him through her eyelashes, her face seemingly innocent. Rai knew her well enough to know that it was just a show and he nodded firmly.

"Alright, let's see how long you can last, _Raimundo_," the woman purred, turning on her heel and down the hall. Rai shook his head at her, closing the door with a small smile.

Jack sat with his back rigid in his extremely comfy chair, his mind unable to find the softness in it. If looks could kill, Kimiko would have died right before she had the opportunity to challenge Rai with the way that Jack had been glaring at her. He didn't like the girl to begin with, always with something to retort to his confident statements, and now that she looked at Rai with those glittery blue eys of hers, fluttering her eyelashes like some sort of schoolgirl, he disliked her even more. Although he did appreciate a sharp tongue when he saw one, she had just taken Rai's away from him, and he couldn't stand that.

"I can't believe you just... that you could take that from her," Jack stated, the disgust in his tone seeping through the edges. The Brazilian was currently fiddling with the blackberry in his hands, back against the wall as he sat on his bed. He merely hummed in reply, obviously occupied. Jack bit back a growl; he _hated_ it when people didn't listen, especially when they were usually very receptive.

The redhead stood up, his loosely hanging tie sliding off his shoulders with the quick movement. He strode stiffly over to his roommate's bedside, looking at the flashing screen to examine it. A scoff escaped his lips, fogging up the device and eliciting a quiet objection from the brunet holding it.

"Hey, just what the hell do you think you're doing?" Rai asked, reeling his arms back to his body. He stared at Jack's disapproving eyes, their proximity going unnoticed.

"I could have given you a newer model of this," Jack muttered under his breath, his tone sounding preoccupied.

Rai glanced up at Jack curiously, wondering why he had suddenly become so interested with his affairs. "So if I just asked you to give me a blackberry, you would have given me one?"

A smile played along Jack's thin lips when he heard Rai struggle to keep his voice from going deadpan. He sounded almost genuine, _almost_. "If you would have asked really nicely, then yes, I have a few to spare."

Jack looked back up at the brunet and saw him roll his eyes as to say "as if I would _ask nicely_". Rai sighed, settling the device down with an aquiescent look on his tanned features. "I'm starting to doubt myself, Spicer." He was talking more to himself than to the redhead standing in front of him, and Jack realized that it was more of a bet against his pride, his identity, rather than just a mobile device.

Jack nodded faintly, averting his face away from Rai's gaze. His jealousy grew as he silently wished that he could also make Rai as vulnerable as Kimiko had.

* * *

The next day, Omi poked his face into Jack and Raimundo's shared-and-open door, curious of the news that he had heard. Although he only had the slightest grasp of what "sarcasm" was, he wanted to see what Kimiko had made the Brazilian do.

"Raimundo?" he asked, his voice quiet yet immense in the silent room. Only Jack was in the room, tinkering on some robot in the corner. Omi hesitated at the door, hoping that it wasn't too late to turn around and leave unnoticed.

"He's not here, shrimp," Jack said, refusing to turn around to look at him as he spoke. "If I knew any better, he'd be at that stupid girl's room trying to prove himself to her."

The bald student pursed his lips. Everything in his body screamed at him to accept Jack's answer and leave, but the way that the words had left the redhead's lips sounded odd to him, even if he had only spoken to him a few times. He dared to shuffle into the doorway, knowing that he would regret it later.

"Prove himself, you say? What would he have to prove to Kimiko?" Omi was concerned about his sister figure, hoping that Raimundo held no malice towards her. At least not like the way Jack did to her.

Jack snorted incredulously as if he had pointed out the most obvious thing in the world. "I honestly wouldn't know what it was, but it sure sounds like he's trying to do something to convice her of..." Words escaped his usually clever mouth. "Something."

"You say it as if he were trying to impress her," Omi pressed on, shrugging off Jack's venomous tone. "Why would you think that?"

The pale student lmost threw down his wrench in frustration, unwilling to spell out every single detail to the kid. He took on a light, uncaring tone of voice as he said, "Oh I don't know, why would you think that a boy would want to impress a girl?"

A red light went off in Omi's mind as he realized what Jack was hinting at. He smiled widely, largely proud of himself for figuring it out on his very own. "Oh, so I suppose that you are... jealous? Haha, so, the great boy genius Jack Spicer has fallen victim to a case of _love sickness_?! Ohoho, that's funn--"

Jack whirled around and stood up all in one swift motion, nearly toppling over from the momentum. His eyes shone brightly with rage, his gloved hands balled into fists at his side. "What would you know, half-pint! You're just a friggin' kid," he exclaimed, smoke practically flowing out of his ears. When he saw the shorter student start to quiver, he lowered his voice, adopting his detached demeanor again. "I mean, how old are you again? Twelve?"

"I am sixteen, thank you very much!" Omi yelled back indignantly. He glared openly at Jack as his jaw dropped, forgetting the reason why he had even bothered talking to the redhead. "Go back to your little robotics, Spicer. I doubt that _they_ would impress Raimundo."

It was Jack's turn to be indignant as Omi stormed out of the room.

* * *

"Jesus, this sure isn't easy," Raimundo groaned upon entering the room, throwing his jacket off carelessly. It landed on the floor next to his bed, where he was initially aiming it at. He shrugged at it and walked over to his desk, pulling out a text book from an enormous pile of them. Jack sat as far away from the Brazilian as physically possible, his nose buried in a textbook himself. He was twitching, the only movement disturbing his stillness.

_He's probably trying not to reply to what I just said,_ Raimundo thought with a smirk, flipping his book open. Even if he wasn't allowed to use sarcasm for another five days, it didn't mean that he couldn't still be clever in his head. _Just a shame no one can hear my witty remarks._

The Brazilian scratched at his head idly as Jack's bristling form slowly inching away from him. _What the hell is his problem?_ His lips pulled into a frown before he decided to slide down the desk to see what would happen. Glancing at Jack again, he saw that he was still staring intently on his books, so he moved his chair closer to the other student. Jack immediately reacted by moving away from him. Rai's frown deepened as he moved again. In turn, jack moved with him. The brunet bit back a growl as he slid so close that Jack nearly fell out of his chair when his book fell off the table.

"Jack, what the hell is your problem!" Rai huffed, standing up to tower over the boy in his leather chair. Jack looked away stubbornly, his lips pressed together tightly.

"Come on man, why so cold all of a sudden? You usually never pass up an opportunity to brag about some new robot, or something," Rai continued, his voice softening. He gave Jack his best disarming smile and spread his arms wide. "Is something wrong?"

Jack could have said, "I'm fine" and hoped that Rai would have dismissed him, but he lifted his eyes, something in the back of his mind urging him to look at the green orbs shining with slight concern and frustration. "Why do you care," Jack said instead, his voice carefully stoic.

Rai sighed, figuring that he would have to be the adult in this situation. "Because I'm your roommate. Because I'm your friend. Because I just do, okay? Now, what's up?"

The redhead continued to pout, but now he had a new reason to be upset: how the hell was he going to explain what he felt? Omi had rubbed it in his face the other day; how was he going to live it down once Rai himself knew? "I can't tell you," Jack breathed, and he couldn't believe that it was the honest truth.

The Brazilian leaned over and gripped the top of Jack's chair, leaning closer to get a better view of his roommate's expression. There was a faraway look in his eyes. He looked almost wistful. "Why not?" Rai kept his voice low and soft, as if speaking louder would break the man shying away from him.

"Because." Rai waited for the rest of the sentence, and when it never came, he heaved a sigh, his breath blowing over Jack's ear. The pale student shivered from the feel of it and closed his eyes.

Rai stared at Jack helplessly. He had no idea what to do. He couldn't read Jack's expression, let alone know what it could be related to, or how it could fix it. And boy did he want to fix it, get that melancholy expression off his face, and most importantly, get him to stop avoiding him like the plague.

"Jack, you can trust me," Rai whispered, his voice barely audible. But it was still amazingly loud in the dead silent room, and Jack involuntarily shook his head.

"I can't trust anyone..." Jack mumbled, and Rai had to really strain to hear it. Why couldn't he trust anyone? The brunet shook his head, knowing that it wasn't worth the time to ask that now. What he needed to do was to get Jack to trust _him_.

"Jack, you can _trust_--"

"It's Kimiko," Jack blurted out after finally opening his eyes. When he saw the desperate look in Rai's eyes, he couldn't hold it in any longer. He just wished that he would... stop looking at him like that.

"Kimiko?" Rai repeated questioningly. What did Kimiko have to do with all this?

"Yeah, her," Jack sighed, trying to figure out a way to explain himself without giving too much away. He chewed on his bottom lip, knowing that he was in way too deep for his liking. "You... her... She... Ugh. She's doing something to you, and I..." _And I what? Wish that you would stop trying to get into her pants?_

Rai hummed, trying to understand what he was saying. _Well, maybe I should... I guess I should call off the bet, if anything. R_ai couldn't help but smile as he thought, _Maybe he just misses my sarcasm._ The corners of his lips dropped when Jack growled low in his throat at the expression. _Ugh. It's not like I'm doing it exclusively for Kimiko or something, she just likes to mess with me. Payback for the tricks I've done with the sprinklers in her dorm, maybe..._

Jack closed his eyes again, not wanting to look him in the eye. "Look, just forget about it, okay? Maybe I'm just... over reacting..."

Rai didn't catch the last part of his sentence, only saw his lips move as his voice trailed off. _One thing's for sure, I need to talk to Kimiko about this... To call off the bet and to ask her about... Girl problems._

Because Jack was being as confusing as any other female right now, twisting his mind in ways that he could never understand. All he wanted to do was to stop him from... whatever he was doing... Sulking, he supposed. It was tugging at something in his heart and he wanted to stop it as soon as he could.

* * *

A knock rapped softly at her door and Kimiko absently thought that it sounded kind of sad. _Even though knocks can't sound sad._ She got up to answer it and opened her door to see the downcast and serious face of Raimundo, his hand still poised in a fist. She gave him a once-over and gave him a smile.

"Are you having sarcasm withdrawl or something?" she asked playfully, nudging at his shoulder. He gave no reply, simply pushing her hand off his shoulder. She looked at his face again and realized that he was distracted by his own thoughts.

"Bet's off, Kim," he mumbled, eyes meeting hers absently. They were glazed with thought, but he shook his head to clear his mid a bit. He held out the blackberry and she eyed it warily.

"Why?" It was a simple question, and she even bit back her smart remark about not being able to last a week. Kimiko knew that it wasn't a joke anymore, as she tried to read Raimundo's expression.

"It's Jack," Rai replied, his voice regaining some life. His mouth was twisted to the side as he racked his brain for the right words to explain. He shook his head again when he decided that there wasn't really an exact way to say it, just that he needed to get it solved. "He's being... weird. I think he's mad at me. I have no idea _why_ though."

He must have sounded more distressed than he thought that he had, because Kimiko placed her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. Regret was starting to well up in his stomach; he never wanted to spread his discontent as he stared at concerned blue eyes. Rai averted his gaze after a moment, the image of Jack's lonely eyes flashing suddenly in his head.

"He said it had something to do with you, and that's why I came here. I thought that maybe you..."

"That maybe I would be able to help you?" Kimiko asked, a fond smile touching her lips. Rai nodded feebly. She grabbed his wrist and led him to the corner of her room, sitting him down in a plush and brightly colored chair, neon green fluff tickling his cheeks where she normally would not be able to reach if she herself had been sitting in the chair.

The woman ran a hand through her short, layered hair and admitted, "I'm not sure what's really happening. I know about as much as you know from the looks of it. What did he say, exactly?"

"Well, first we were just studying, and I swear it's like I had some sort of disease or something because he was sitting at the very edge of the table," Rai started, scratching at his hair, "And I wanted to know what was wrong, so I slid closer to him until he almost fell off. I asked him what his problem was and he asked me why I cared. God, he can be such a child sometimes..."

Kimiko flicked his forehead lightly as he trailed off. He gave her a sheepish smile before continuing.

"So yeah, I told him that I just do, and he told me that he couldn't tell me. I told him he could trust me, and..." Rai stopped, realizing that maybe he shouldn't be revealing as much about his roommate as he was without his permission. He shook his head to himself for the millionth time that day, muttering, "Point is, he said that it had something to do with you, that you were doing something weird to me or something, and it was pretty obvious that he was upset about it."

Kimiko sighed, sitting across from him on the foot of her bed. The pink comforter shifted slightly as she crossed her legs. "I forgot to mention this, Rai," she started, looking at her shoes, "But earlier Omi stopped by and told me something about Spicer. Said that he was... Jealous. Of me. I didn't want to believe him, even though Omi's not much of a liar, because there was no way in hell someone that conceited, and almost as rich as me, could be jealous of me. But now that you tell me this, I think I put the pieces together..."

Rai still looked distressed and confused, but he was eager to hear an answer, any kind of answer. "Really? So what does this all mean?"

"I think it means that Jack thinks that you like me," Kimiko replied, a tone of finality touching her words, "And that he's jealous."

"Jealous? Jealous of _what_?" The answer didn't seem as great anymore now that it brought up even more questions. The woman shrugged, standing up.

"I have no idea. He's your roommate." She placed her hands on her hips, seeming somewhat satisfied at being able to figure this out for him. _But she still hasn't told me anything!_

Exhaling deeply, Rai stood up as well, heading for the door. "Thanks for the help, Kim," he mumbled half-heartedly, giving a wave over his shoulder. He couldn't see it, but she still looked concerned as he walked out dejectedly.

"No problem, Rai..."


	4. Serious Business

****

Walking the Thin Line

Chapter Four - Serious Business

Rai's thoughts seemed to consume him as he walked slowly down the halls of Kim's dorm room. What did this all mean? Jack was _jealous_? That what, he was spending time with Kimiko? She had a right to his company as much as he did. Hell, he spent more time with him than he did with her because of their arrangements with the school, he had no reason to be jealous!

And yet he was.

_I don't get it! He didn't want to tell me what was bothering him, which means that he was probably scared about my reaction_, Rai thought, running his hands down the pale rose of the wallpaper. _Why would he be scared? It's not like he... Ugh. Was he afraid that I would... I would what? I need something to fill the blanks, here!_

He was tempted to slam his fist against the wall, but he was sure that the ruckus would wake somebody, and he didn't need anymore trouble.

_There's something I'm missing. What in the world could I be missing?_

Rai opened the glass doors of the dorm building and stepped out into the early fall night, wind playing with the locks of his hair. It calmed him down slightly as he closed his eyes and let the wind caress his body. He didn't mind the small chills that came with the cool breeze, the whispers of moving air rushing past his ears. His chest filled with the fresh air, inhaling slowly and deeply.

He felt that maybe he could face the redhead now. It was now or never; the image of Jack Spicer cowering in his chair sent unpleasant waves through his body, telling him that it did not belong, that it wasn't right for the pale man to be in such pain. He wouldn't stand it.

* * *

Jack sat on his bed, his knees drawn up to his chest. He was breathing shallowly, and it kept him on the edge yet at the same time it allowed him to feel comfortably small. No one could see him, no one could hurt him, not even himself. At least not physically. The packed position made him unnoticeable, but he stayed locked up in his thoughts. Pictures and snapshots of the Brazilian who resided with him haunted his mind, and having something to hold close to him helped him cope with the disturbing images.

For some reason, it hurt him to see Rai so distressed, so confused. He sensed the frustration and wanted it to stop. He knew he could stop it if he told him... But that would cause even more pain, because then Rai would hate him.

Why was that, again? Jack was beginning to forget, but pain still lingered in his system and he couldn't stop it. The result conflicted the solution.

The redhead almost tipped over in fright when the door opened languidly, revealing a disgruntled Raimundo. The green eyes that looked at him were somewhat jaded, as if all the years of his life were showing through and more. Jack unravelled himself and stood, knowing nothing but to stop the cause of his aging in his eyes.

"Jack," Rai murmured, meeting him halfway. They stopped and stared, looking for an answer, anything. The brunet's eyebrows drew together as he muttered, "Can you tell me now?"

Jack was distracted by his own ambitions to _stop that look_ and replied quietly, "Will it make you feel better if I did?"

"Yes." By now he would do anything to find out what was troubling him.

Jack took a deep, trembling breath before words started tumbling out of his mouth at a startling rate, "I really hate the fact that you like Kimiko and I wish that she would stop looking at you like that because she's not supposed to, it's weird and uncomfortable and for some reason I just hate it, you should stop it, she should stop it, just stop looking at me like that, okay?"

The Brazilian had thought that Jack's answer would finally appease him, but he was only confused further yet again. His voice and tone seemed almost slow compared to the rush of words that had just been uttered by his roommate, "Look at her like what? Like her? She's my friend, Jack, what the hell are you talking about?"

Jack shook his head quickly, still urged to do things in fast forward, as if it would skip all the unpleasant parts. "Do I have to spell it out for you?! I don't want you to like her! You should only have eyes for--" He stopped, grabbing at the goggles at his head. He knew that he was being selfish again, but he just really wanted it so bad, it made his heart wrench and the thoughts, the recurring images, it just-- "Eyes only for me."

Raimundo's mouth formed into a surprised "O" as everything clicked into place. _So this is what they meant by "jealous"_. He could just laugh from the feelings of relief and amused mirth that bubbled up in his chest as he laid a hand on Jack's shoulder, which was an inch or so higher than where his stood. Leaning forwards, Rai bowed his head, exhaling slowly as laughter began to escape his lips.

"Raimundo, what the _fuck_is so funny?!" Jack all but screamed, jumping back. His red eyes blazed with anger and pent up frustration, the light making them even more exotic than ever before. Rai licked his lips, his mouth dry as he shook his head again.

Jack Spicer, evil boy genius, had a _crush_on him. It was hilarious to see him reduced to such mood swings because of him. Not only was it funny, but it satisfied him to see that he was the cause of all this commotion, that Jack currently placed him above anything else. Rai took a step forward, then another, as he thought, _Well, I guess that I'm the one talking, huh?_ He was grinning like a madman, glad that he knew how to cure Jack of that fear of losing him, which had been the underlying cause after all.

The redhead, on the other hand, felt no better once he saw Rai's green eyes light up with laughter, even if his sides ached to join him in his mirth. He knew that he was laughing at him, he knew that he was right, Raimundo Pedrosa was like any other human being on earth: a selfish bastard who couldn't care less about anyone else. He could barely manage a yelp when the Brazilian's arm snaked around his wait and pulled him forward.

Something in the back of Jack's mind told him that this is what he wanted, but he felt that Rai was being a huge friggin' cock tease, so he struggled in his arms and yelled, "You son of a bitch, let me go! What the fuck do you want from me?!"

"I could ask you the same thing," Rai whispered into his ears, his amusement growing as Jack writhed in his grip. "From what I can tell, you want me, is that right? Come on, you can tell me."

"Oh please, like I would waste my breath on you, you asshole!" Jack hissed in reply, digging his fingers into Rai's forearm.

The Brazilian rolled his eyes, deciding that it would be easier to just kiss this dumbass before somebody did something incredibly stupid. As soon as his lips met the pale student's, he stilled in his arms, eyes popping open. Rai kept his eyes open as well, only to observe Jack's expressive red ones. The color was almost unnatural, but it suited the genius and even matched with hair. It was like watching the spinning rolls of a slot machine, going from angry, to fearful, to content, to insecure, until they finally glazed over with lust, eyelids falling halfway.

Rai stroked his hair softly, as if taking in the sight for the first time. It was a brilliant, fiery red that was so unlike any other natural redheads. Those people usually had orange-y hair that looked almost brown sometimes. _But then again, how would I know if it's natural? _He had a few ways of knowing, but it wasn't the time for that now.

"If you're teasing me right now, you motherfucker, I will kill you slowly and painfully, bring you back to life, and do it again," Jack whispered fiercely against his mouth, though there was no malice in his tone.

"Oh my god, I think you stole my precious deadpan voice!" Raimundo replied in mock-shock, grinning at the pale boy in his arms. He rolled his red eyes at him, brighter than he had ever seen them.

"You know, I would try to be serious with you right now, but I guess that I would just be wasting my time, huh?" Jack said, his voice somewhat detached. It had a hint of amusement laced in it, but Rai knew that he was actually being serious with him. He sensed that he didn't want to be putting himself on the line only to be used and abused.

"Do you know me to be so cruel?" Rai murmured, answering his unspoken question. Jack looked at him quizzically, wondering how he knew, and shook his head. The Brazilian smiled, nuzzling his neck. He loved the feeling of holding someone close to him, especially someone who was in need of a pillar, of someone they could depend on. Jack's comment from the other day, when he told him that he could not trust anyone, appeared in his mind. He would make it his goal to be one that Jack could trust, slowly but surely.

"Good," Raimundo whispered against his neck. He knew that it had only been about six weeks since they'd met, but he had gotten to know the genius in that time; in fact, if you really took the time to examine his robots and the use for them, you could figure him out very easily. The redhead tried to put up a wall around himself, to protect him from God-knows-what, but pieces of him always seemed to seep through the hastily molded cracks between the bricks. Something in Jack screamed to be loved, screamed that he needed someone, something to console him after years of neglect. First it had been his intelligence and the artificial beings he had created that had filled the hole, but it was just that: artificial.

The brunet absently undid the tie slung loosely around Jack's neck, freeing the pale skin lying underneath a neatly pressed collar. He had a robot for that kind of thing, being the anal prick that he was. _Maybe he'll let me use it now, _Rai thought idly, pressing his mouth to Jack's clavicle. A soft gasp whizzed past his ear as Rai licked his way up Jack's neck, fascinated as it began to color with a bright flush.

"You really are a son of a bitch who is also a huge cock tease," Jack muttered into his ear, his breath hitched. Rai grinned against his skin, and the redhead could feel the smooth surfaces of his teeth. "You know as well as I do that we can't have sex."

"I could and buy some condoms if you want," Rai stated, nipping at the genius' ear. "And lube, if you want to be extra careful--"

"That is not what I meant, and you know it!" Jack said, his voice loud next to Rai's ear. He had controlled raising his voice to a scream as he continued, "We can't just have _sex_. We have to, you know..." His voice trailed off, softening with embarrassment. "Don't we have to have dates and spend time together and all that...? Isn't that what's normally done?"

"Screw normalcy," the brunet said into his jaw, planting butterfly kisses on his face. He was abruptly interrupted in his pleasant activity when Jack pushed him away, giving him one of his dark glares. The Brazilian caught a hand leaving his chest before Jack could reel it back to his body, holding it to his cheek as he used a suave tone to murmur, "What's wrong, baby? You scared about me putting my long, hard--"

Jack's blush deepened considerably as he said hotly, "I am not scared! A-And who said you'd be topping, anyway?!"

"Then what's wrong?" Rai's eyes adopted a hooded look as he kissed the backs of Jack's fingers, left bare from the fingerless gloves he wore.

The genius tugged his hand away from Rai sharply, holding the appendage close to his chest. He muttered something incomprehensible, looking everywhere but the tanned student in front of him. Rai managed to hear something along the lines of "wanted to do it right" and felt that familiar tug at his heart. he reahced out for the taller student and rubbed his back soothingly, whispering sweet nothings into his ear.

"Alright, baby, alright. We'll do this the way you want to..."

* * *

A/N: Well, it looks like I get to redo chapter four, as well. Eh. It's pretty much along the same lines: establish the timeline and the relationship. i also added to the plot, revealing Jack's cravings for a normal life. So yeah, hope you like the revision, and I hope it's still in character. The snark of the old chapter is gone, but there's still plenty left in the story, so I hope this isn't too bad.

Keep a heads out for the rest of the edits! See ya next chapter! (which could take another six months. You never know)


	5. Caught Up

****

Walking the Thin Line

Chapter Five - Caught Up

The door opened lazily as Rai slowly trudged into the room, his jacket sliding off his shoulders as he made his way over to the lounging redhead on the other side of the room. He could care less about the red piece of clothing, tugging roughly on the tie encasing a tanned neck under a white collar.

Jack had returned to the dorm room about twenty minutes before Rai had and was in no mood to do anything. He had all but collapsed on his bed, hands sore and cramped from the multiple essays and diagrams about the mechanics and uses of engineering. Technology this, economy that, morals this, blah, blah, blah. All he wanted to do with his degree was to find a way to made the perfect artificial intelligence, as well as other devices to make life easier for the human race. He lived in luxury his whole life and hoped to spread that leisure for everyone. Or at least build some sort of awesome laser.

A pair of yellow, spiral goggles fell to the floor as Jack shifted the arm that was slung over his forehead, his flame red eyes closed with exhaustion. Rai bent down to pick them up, smiling childishly to himself as he slipped them onto his head. It was a minor distraction on his short journey to Jack's side of the room; he had treasure to plunder. In one quick movement, Rai slid onto the bed, stirring Jack with the sounds of his shifting sheets. The redhead merely shifted his arm to his chest, his eyes rolling under his eyelids.

Only when something ground into his hips, producing a very delightful friction, did he move. Jack shot up, only to be held down by a grinning Raimundo. It wasn't too hard to hold Jack's skinny torso down. Rai pressed his forehead against Jack's, the goggles becoming lopsided on his messy brown hair.

"Hello, Jackie," Rai purred, rolling his pelvis again. Jack already had an indignant comment to make when he spoke, but his mouth opened and only a low whine emerged from his throat. The Brazilian repeated the action yet again, slowly dragging his hips up against the growing bulge in Jack's pants. When he reduced the pale student to shallow pants, he released his thin shoulders and began to run his sensuous hands and fingers down his sides, rubbing his nipples through his shirt.

God, he loved being a cock tease. He knew about Jack's strange desire to _go out and have a _normal _relationship_, but it was times like this when he wanted to grab any opportunity he could and make Jack beg and pant, to get him off that high pedestal he had placed himself on and reduce him to a sweating, pleading pile of putty. And boy did he have it down to an art.

Raimundo wasn't much of an attentive student, missing small details every now and then in his surroundings. He was usually more interested in how the people in his life worked, how they clicked with himself and others, what buttons to push to make certain reactions spring to life. It usually worked to his advantage, where he liked to switch it up and make his life amusing, especially when pranking people. Like the sprinkler incident, for example: he knew that Kimiko had a vast collection of make up and electronic devices, so he messed around with the sprinklers in her room and any other source of water so that she would have to live without them for a while. At least before her father shipped her replacements.

Ignoring these certain things didn't usually cause a lot of damage, such as forgetting to close a window or something. Just as long as things were relatively under control - as it was back in his home in Rio, you could never have anything exactly the way you wanted it organized - he could function properly. One had to learn that not everything could be placed as perfectly as you wanted it, that there would always be something out of place mo matter how hard you tried. The real deal was to figure out how to accept it.

The door opened with a quiet creak, so quiet that it went undetected. The sound that actually met their ears was a chorused gasp, consisting of two high voices and a rumbling deep one. Jack froze up, his flush spreading from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. Rai lifted his head from the redhead's chest, wondering why he had become so tense under his arms.

"Your stupid friends are s-standing in the doorway," Jack managed to breathe into his ear, as if reading his thoughts. He started to squirm from underneath him until he realized that it made it worse, biting down a groan that clawed its way up his throat.

"What in tarnation are you two doin' o'er there!" Clay exclaimed. Rai's two other friends, Omi and Kimiko, were not as surprised, though the former had a rather puzzled look on his face. The latter had a small blush forming on her cheeks, her crystalline blue eyes darting around the room.

The Brazilian chuckled softly, adopting a sheepish look. "H-Hey guys. Ever heard of knocking?"

"We _did_," Kimiko hissed, her disapproval evident in her eyes, "But I guess that you horny bastards were too caught up in the middle of dry-humping each other to hear us, huh?"

The blonde standing in the doorway glanced over at his companions standing with him, surprised that they were calm. He fingered the brim of the ten gallon hat he was wearing, muttering under his breath, "Why am I always the last to know 'bout these things?"

"We were going to tell you soon," Rai replied, trying to be reassuring, "We just haven't had the time--"

"What do you mean "we"?" Jack cried, having regained his composure. Strands of loose, red hair fell into his eyes. "I wasn't planning these losers about us, I wasn't planning on telling my own _mother_--"

"_As I was saying_," the Brazilian ground out, elbowing his roommate roughly, "I apologise for any inconvenience I may have caused." Kimiko rolled her eyes at Rai's deadpan tone. He stuck his tongue out at her and said, "What are you doing here, anyway?"

Omi pushed his way to the front, still eying them suspiciously. He crossed his arms across his chest. "Since mid-term exams are finished, we were hoping to go out and gather a bite."

Kimiko giggled softly, patting Omi's bald head. "I think you mean _grab _a bite, Omi."

"That too." He cocked his head at the couple sitting on the edge of Jack's bed, the two of them exchanging uncertain glances. "Are you going to accompany us?"

They both stood. Jack slid his coat on, the fact that Rai was wearing his goggles forgotten. "Sure. I'm guessing I'm paying...?"

"But of course."

* * *

Kimiko had offered to drive. In fact, she had insisted, even when all the males in the group protested. They knew that she was going to bring them to some fancy restaurant, and they were lucky that their uniforms looked somewhat formal.

Streetlamps and flashing lights illuminated the night sky as they drove down the street. Neon signs labelling various shops, bars, and whatnot shone like stars in the darkness of a mid-autumn's night, light absent even at the early time of six o'clock. Fluffy clouds brought a somewhat ominous feel to the evening, covering the moon in its slow ascent to the sky.

Their fears about a fancy restaurant and proper behavior were confirmed when Kimiko parked beside a French restaurant, the white paint on the outside glowing faintly in the dark. An elegantly painted sign read "Tres Bien", equipped with roses and loopy handwriting.

Rai slipped his tie into a loose knot, pulling up his collar to rest gently against his neck. Smiling faintly, he adjusted the yellow goggles on his forehead and grabbed Jack by the arm from behind. The redhead was taken aback, a red flush rising to his skin as he subtly tugged his arm away.

"Raimundo," the self-proclaimed genius muttered harshly, his words breathed through his teeth, "What the hell are you doing?"

The Brazilian smiled smugly, leaning in close to whisper back, "Why, I'm escorting my date inside, of course."

Jack's blush deepened, but he held his chin high, basically yanking his arm out from under Rai's grip. The brunet staggered forward from the sudden movement and the redhead merely offered him a complacent smile.

"I think I'll do fine on my own, Pedrosa," Jack stated, his warm tone of voice contradicting his cold words. Rai frowned, rubbing the inside of his elbow dejectedly.

_Okay, Rai, gotta walk through all the steps tonight,_ he thought to himself, determination mixing with a feeling of defeat. He chided himself for underestimating the pale student as they walked through glass doors, classical music greeting their ears upon entering. The brunet was not a huge fan of music without lyrics, he found it somewhat... empty, like the eyes of the waiter showing them to their table.

The table was the perfect material for a black tie kind of restaurant, draped with a flowing, white cloth that almost touched the ground. It was lined with five, chest-high chairs lined with red cushions. Overall, the place looked like something he normally would not be able to afford. Rai took a seat across from Jack, beside him Clay. Omi sat next to Jack, who sat between the bald student and Kimiko. The Japanese girl sent Jack a dirty look when he sat down in front of the Brazilian.

"What," Jack spat, glaring at her irritably. "Don't I get to sit across from my roommate and give him _dreamy stares_?"

The woman huffed, finding no problem in his explanation. A quick grin flashed upon his pale features at the small victory. She rolled her eyes, muttering, "Well, it's not like I _said_ anything."

"Yeah, but you were thinking it," Jack replied, smiling as the menus were handed to them. Kimiko buried her nose into the folded cardboard and refused to respond.

Jack's words were a sort of apology as he looked over the top of his menu at shining green eyes. Rai's eyes curved in a smile before darting back down to read the text in front of him.

_Dreamy stares, he says? _Rai thought to himself deviously, absently deciding on a hamburger with fries. _I'll show him something to be dreamy about_.

The Brazilian toed off his right shoe, setting it gently on the hardwood floors below. He knew that it wouldn't take too long to find the redhead's leg, groping around a bit as he watched Jack's engrossed expression. He bumped something by accident, knowing that it was too far to the left and watched Omi lift his head, puzzled. He cursed to himself, moving more directly in front of him. The hem of a pantleg moved under his ministrations and he saw Jack's face light up with a faint blush, his red eyes landing on his own green ones. They shone brightly, dancing like a candle flame playing with gentle winds, just the way he liked them.

Rai helped Jack remove his shoe, feeling the soft feeling of leather through his socks. They shared a grimace at dress shoes, knowing how pinchy they were. _Oh to wear sneakers again._He slid his foot up Jack's loose slacks, his smile growing as the redhead shuddered visibly against his seat. Jack's ankles stuck out from his thin leg, which were rather skinny themselves. Apparently they were sensitive from the look of Jack's flushed face.

_Damn_. The waiter arrived, chatting enthusiastically with Omi about the day's special. Omi agreed to order that, asking if it was safe for vegetarians first, the idea of something special enticing him. In the background he could hear Clay order for some sort of steak and Kimiko for sushi and fish prepared some fancy French way. When he was prompted by the waiter, he mumbled the name of his burger, the sirloin something something. Kimiko glared at him, exclaiming something about how he could go anywhere for burgers, why waste money on that _here_? But he wasn't listening, his attention directed at the self-proclaimed genius who was trying his hardest to regain some kind of calmness as his foot slid higher up his leg.

"I-I would like the... The... Jumbo shrimp bowl with the..." Jack paused to swallow thickly, rubbing his cheek to try and hide his blush. "The clam chowder."

The waiter scribbled down his order, an eyebrow raised. He complimented them on their excellent choices and promised them that their food would be on the way shortly. A swift nod and the man was gone.

Kimiko eyed Jack suspiciously. "What was that all about? Cat got your tongue?"

_If that cat was a stupidly dazzling Brazilian, then yeah, that cat would have more than just my tongue_, Jack thought to himself, sending Rai a weak, angry glare. "You c-could put it th-that way, yeah."

"Well, you're jumpier than a chicken in the middle of a thunder storm with the way you're twitchin', partner," Clay commented, looking at him through swept bangs.

"Well, you speak with really colorful words for a _hick_, Clay-- Ow! What the _hell_, Rai--"

"And _you, boy genius_, don't know when to shut up," Rai growled dangerously, his foot crushing Jack's under the table.

"Oh, _fuck you_--"

"_Ahem._" The waiter was back, giving them all irritated glares. "It seems that I have forgotten to ask about beverages."

The Brazilian sighed, annoyed that he wasn't old enough to drink. He could have gone for a beer or something else alcoholic, but was forced to settle on a cola. Jack narrowed his eyes at him from across the table, withdrawing his leg from under his and asked for some water. The rest of the group ignored the squabbling boyfriends and got milkshakes, the three of them also too young for something strong.

The two roommates held a long, heated staring contest until a surprised giggle caught their attention.

"Hmm, Clay, stop it," Kimiko purred quietly, her hand settled under her chin. She and the blonde shared a secretive expression, the former looking up at him through thick lashes. It was the same expression she had used on Rai the other day and Jack was more than relieved to see it on someone else.

Raimundo was tempted to peek under the table to see what the hell the Japanese girl was talking about. He glanced up at Jack and saw that he was thinking the same thing, a smile playing at his lips. _Probably the same thing we were_, he mouthed. Jack nodded, giving the two occupied student a sideways glance. _We thought of it first. _Rai's smile widened and shook his head. _No, I thought of it first._ Jack rolled his eyes.

"My friends," Omi said, addressing them all warmly. Rai almost jumped in surprise; he had momentarily forgotten about the small student for his lack of speech throughout the whole evening. "How do your studies go?"

Kimiko tore her gaze away from Clay, her expression making it seem like nothing happened. The pleased on her smile ruined the look, though no one had the mind to really take notice. "Omi, we're away from class for once as a group. It's time that we hang out and stay away from studies, mmkay?" Her blue eyes shone under the bright lights of the chandelier above them, taking on a warm, beautiful glow that could attract a man from miles away. It was probably her negotiating stare. "Though do tell how your classmates, and your roommate, are taking a sixteen year old at Xiaolin U."

Omi grinned smugly, glad that he had been given an opportunity to tell them about his accomplishments. Although he had recently moved to America, his smarts and legend from China had followed him over and it took merely one test to show his competence. "Oh they are most surprised. My roommate, a very "hip" and talks in slang that would blow your gloves off."

Rai's eyebrow twitched as he smiled. "I think you mean "blow our socks off"."

"That too. His name is Jermaine and he plays for the basketball team," Omi added, his face in his hand as he leaned over to talk to them. "As for my classmates, the students were most rude to me. They called me names like "baldie" and "shrimp" until professor Guan arrived and started complimenting me on my accomplishments. The students who made fun of me were without speech and I offered them a few tutoring lessons, then they threatened to beat me--"

"Food's here!" Jack exclaimed when the waiter arrived, who beamed at them with a bright smile.

Rai accepted his plate from the man and mumbled under his breath, "Never expected to see you so excited about eating, Spicer."

"Well, I couldn't just let him go on," the redhead replied just as quietly, exchanging an amused smile with the Brazilian.

They dug into their food enthusiastically, savoring the silence for a moment. When Omi started talking again, the rest of the group slumped over, expecting another boring tale from the exuberant boy.

To keep themselves entertained, Jack and Rai played footsie again without any peeps from either of them.

* * *

It was around eight when the two roommates returned to their dorm room. Rai threw his jacket off, exhaustion starting to settle into his bones. Before he could even sit down, Jack's goggles were snatched from his forehead, catching his attention. He whirled around, surprised, and was met by Jack's aggressive mouth, any words he had smothered against pale lips.

Jack was wearing his yellow goggles once again, the swirls glinting under the light. His pale features were highlighted by the sliver of moonlight beaming in from the open window, his red eyes gleaming. They were as warm as the hearth on a cold winter's day yet as fiery as a blazing wildfire spreading havoc.

"You know, you always assume the top, managing to catch me off guard almost every time," he murmured, his voice a low, husky tone. "But today I think it's time I catch _you_ off guard..."

Rai opened his mouth to reply, but the only thing that escaped his throat was a low pitched whine, Jack's hands on his stomach and his lips on his neck. The self-proclaimed genius' lips weren't exactly soft, but the rough scrape of his mouth against his neck made him shiver. Jack backed him up against the edge of his bed, his knees giving out when gloves passed over his nipples. The leather was cool and smooth, a new, unfamiliar texture sending a sharp shudder through his body.

Jack stopped to take the time to unbutton Rai's shirt slowly, grazing his mouth over every inch of skin exposed. Golden skin contrasted against his pale skin, the image vivid in the Brazilian's vision. He swore that his eyes glazed over when cool air whispered against his stomach, his skin breaking out in goosebumps. The redhead smiled against his body, dipping his tongue into his navel. Rai took in a sharp intake of breath, the gasp ragged and hoarse.

"Mmm, so I guess that we've both established our sensitives today," Jack muttered against his stomach, the firm flesh tingling from his touch. He spread his long, calloused fingers over his abdomen, relishing in the way that the brunet's eyes fluttered closed.

His attention was so engrossed by the writhing Brazilian that he didn't notice the knock on the door just at the foot at the bed. His heart was hammering in his chest, the sound filling his ears. Rai was similarly absorbed, the caress on his stomach making him dizzy. Green eyes opened slowly, widening in surprise when they met red. Jack smiled at him predatorily, capturing his mouth in one swift motion.

The person at the door grew impatient after three more knocks, giving in to open the door. A lone gasp tore through the still air.

* * *

A/N: Damn am I an idiot. With the way I'm editing this, I accidentally deleted this chapter without getting a backup, so I had to rewrite the whole thing from scratch. I managed to keep Jack's "not even my own _mother_" line, luckily, cause I just have a good memory like that. Totally. Added the dinner scene just cause and... well, you'll see.

Wahoo, three thousand words again. Til next time.  
P.S.: Predatorily is a word. Check dictionary dot com, guys.


	6. Put Your Behind in Your Past

**Walking the Thin Line**

Chapter Six - Put Your Behind in Your Past

The pair on the bed froze, Jack's red eyes darting to the open doorway, in which two people stood, occupying the space. There was a redheaded woman and a raven-haired man with long, flowing hair. The man had raised an eyebrow at them and the redheaded woman had her mouth hanging open, jaw slack with shock.

"J-Jack! What are you doing with this... this _commoner_?! In bed! And he's a _man_!" She paused, tapping her lip lightly with a carefully, darkly, manicured fingernail. "Although I have always thought that you were gay, but whatever, that's not the point."

"Wuya, don't. What the hell do you want?" Jack glared at her, already off Rai and across the room on his own bed. Contempt was emanating from him in waves that were almost tangible.

"Well, as I'm sure you know, you're using my money for this place... Though I'm not too sure what's so special about it..." Wuya trailed off, her eyes roaming and analysing the dorm room. Those green eyes snapped back to Jack soon enough, giving him a disdainful stare. "I just wanted to make sure that my money hasn't been wasted. It isn't, is it?"

"No, Wuya, it isn't. Are you done here?" Jack asked, clearly eager to get rid of the woman in heels. His hands were balling angry fists around his sheets, disturbing the already messy linens.

"Well, I also wanted to introduce my new boyfriend to you," Wuya said, a small smile on her face. Even if it was meant to be a smile, it seemed as if her face was forever to be contorted with malice of some sort. "His name is Chase Young. He works in the same business as me, if you know what I mean."

"It's nice to meet you, Jack. I've heard well of you." The long-haired man nodded to the male redhead in the room, hovering beside Wuya in the doorway. He seemed just as snobbish as she was, reluctant to step into the unsanitary residence of two male students.

"It's not nice to lie to your girlfriend's, well, for a lack of a better word, _child_," Jack replied, his voice cold and venomous. Chase gave him an angrily surprised look before stepping behind Wuya, avoiding the hateful glare from the pale student. The way his eyes seemed to flicker under the light of the ceiling told him that he took note of Jack's feelings towards his relations to the redheaded woman.

"Hmph. Jack. Be nice to Chase." Wuya said the words as if she were commanding the student under her name, her chin high with some unspoken authority. She did it with the ease of familiarity, as if she did it everyday.

"Y-Yes, Wuya," Jack mumbled, lowering his red eyes from the woman's cold green ones. His voice was quiet, and every syllable he spoke seemed to tremble slightly. "It's nice to meet you, too, Chase."

"Good. I will see you later, child." And with that, the pair left the room in a flourish, their expensive, lush coats swishing with the swift movement.

Rai stood up and closed the door, making sure to lock it, too, before returning to Jack's side. The pale student was staring at the floor, his red eyes weary. Concern flooded his system, along with anger towards the woman who had recently departed. "Jack...? Who was that?"

"You heard her. She's my guardian; I'm under her name, legally."

"Jack, you know what I mean. What the hell got you to be nice to that creepy guy? Who, by the way, reminds me vaguely of a lizard..."

Jack snorted faintly. "I'm glad I'm not the only one." Red eyes were raised off the floor to meet green ones, which were a warm, fond contrast to Wuya's calculating, detached eyes. "But to answer your question... I have this habit that I've developed from being under her "care". I... well, to put it simply, I always follow her command. Especially when she uses that tone..."

"Seems like you two share a history," Rai commented, his hand running soothing paths up and down Jack's back. The redhead leaned into the touch, and the Brazilian let him lean on his shoulder. For once, his touch wasn't sexual. It was soft, comforting, seeking to destroy any remnants of an unpleasant feeling.

"I guess that we do..." Jack sighed, an enervated look on his face as he stared at nothing in particular.

"Tell me about it. Get it off your chest." Rai's tone of voice was determined, as if he wanted to hear every detail from the redhead. Jack hesitated, biting his lip as he looked at Rai uncertainly.

_C-Can I tell him...?_ The self-proclaimed genius thought to himself, his old walls trying to lift themselves up again. He knew that Rai wouldn't want to hurt him, felt that hand on his back that seemed to quell all of his demons and monsters in the closet, but... Every fiber in his body screamed not to open up. Vulnerability was out of the question, has been and always will be.

And yet another part of him wanted this. He wanted to let out all the pent up anger and loneliness, bring it out before it could break him from the inside out. Though even if he did, he'd be as fragile as glass, his soul on the line to be played with and thrown around. He remembered the feeling well; being insulted for every aspect of your personality, every aspect of your physical appearance, insulted for anything and everything, knowing that there was not much you could do to change it. His albino-esque appearance earned him many jibes, as well as his intellect, which he held much pride for. It was crushing, a pain welling in his chest and spreading until his system numbed from too much pressure. His peers in school excluded him in their cliques and his parents were never there to offer him love, leaving him cold with neglect.

Raimundo's eyebrows drew together as he watched Jack's emotions rage in his eyes. They were the most expressive part of his demeanor, the rest of his body staying stoic and motionless. _Maybe that's what the goggles are for._ He suppressed a sigh, attempting to stay patient as the pale student in his arms grew slack. The fires of Jack's eyes flickered somewhat dimly and Rai pulled him in as if trying to shield them from a wind blowing on the embers.

Jack relished in the warm feeling of Rai's wordless support. It was a reminder that all the Brazilian wanted from him was to feel better, to tell him where the demons were so he could vanquish them himself. His whole body seemed to come alive with the immense feeling of safety, something in the back of his mind telling him that this is what he had lacked from his parents, clicking perfectly into place.

It took a moment for Jack to regain his composure. Rai let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when Jack finally spoke, his quiet voice jarring the quiet atmosphere of the dorm room.

"I was fourteen when I met her. When I was visiting my mom one day, I saw her being yelled at by her boss... I think that she had gotten too much influence over the business and was penalized to stop her from getting to his position. She worked with my mom, who, if you were wondering, died of lung cancer a few weeks after I had met Wuya. When she died, Wuya took her place in their business, and she also took me. I was needed, for some reason, to help her get her job back. She made me run around and get stuff for her until she was able to take hold of the business... That's why she's rich, see...

"I got used to her yelling at me and making me follow her command. She couldn't do anything to me, I knew that, but it just got so... annoying. And she also told me that if I helped her, she would get all this money and I would get some, too...

"But it gets worse. When I got older, and she got more powerful, I got more rebellious and she got... abusive. And now that I'm of age, she can do even more damage to me, legally. Scares the shit out of me, to put it bluntly." Jack's voice was deadpan as he finished up his story, his self-defense mechanism starting up. "Am I a good story teller or what?"

Rai couldn't help but give him a small smile at his sarcasm. "Yeah. But all that just sounds... Horrible."

Jack shrugged, fighting the urge to run away from any judging comments Rai might have. He supposed that talking more would cut him off, his voice sounding somewhat hurried as he continued. "I guess. But she's getting busier and busier, so I haven't seen her in a while. She doesn't need me anymore, and she doesn't have to keep me under her name, but I think she does it as a favor to me, and my mom. Huh, some kind of favor that is. I still have both my parents' money, and with hers, I'm a stupid spoiled rich kid. But still a genius, mind you."

"You... Might have contradicted yourself there."

"Screw you. I just spilled my bad history with a control-freakish woman, and all you have to say are my mistakes?"

"I'm sorry."

"I was kidding. Well, mostly." Jack lifted his head off Rai's shoulder, his body already missing the body heat the brunet was emanating. But the need to escape the tense room was tearing at his throat. "Well, I have a class to go to, and I'm sure you do, too. I need to get my mind off that stupid witch lady." _And what I did just now. God knows I'll be reeling for days, waiting for him to make fun of me, even though I don't think he will._

Rai lifted an eyebrow as Jack got up and pulled his uniform jacket on, concealing his own worry. If he didn't know he cared so much, maybe he wouldn't worry. "So first she was a control freak, and now she's a witch. Fascinating."

"Well, she's both," Jack spat, glaring at his Brazlilian roommate. He caught himself and his eyes softened. "So, uh, I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. I've got a story to tell, too, you know, so come prepared to listen," Rai answered with a smile. Maybe if he shared a personal story of his own, the redhead wouldn't feel as vulnerable and scared. Jack nodded sharply, returning the smile with a feeble twitch of his lips before he slid out the door.

* * *

Jack poked his head through the doorway, looking about for his boyfriend. Red eyes didn't catch the figure hiding behind the door before Jack walked past the door and over to his desk, dumping his notes onto the wooden surface. He heaved a sigh as he plopped into his leather chair, eyes sliding shut as he attempted to relax.

Meanwhile, Rai was slowly creeping up on the redhead, quiet as a mouse as his hands approached thin shoulders. He grinned in delight before dropping the wide appendages, scaring his pale boyfriend out of his wits.

"R-Rai! What the fricking hell?!" Jack shouted, his thin frame jumping in his leather chair. The Brazilian student merely dropped his chin onto the other's shoulder, his green eyes sliding to meet red ones. He silently hoped that the familiarity of their usual banter calmed him down after earlier events.

"I have a story to tell, remember?"

"Well, you sure as hell don't need to scare the shit out of me to tell a story, jackass," the pale student hissed, glaring daggers at his tanned roommate. His shoulders stiffened, yet he couldn't find it in himself to push him off. He was still apprehensive form before, traveling with the caution of a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

"I need a way to keep myself entertained, you know." The reply earned Rai a flat look even through slight trembling. Jack reciprocating the snark reassured him somewhat. "Fine, fine. I suppose I'll just skip ahead to my story, then."

"You better," muttered Jack, crossing his arms across his chest. It was almost routine to shield himself physically from others when he started to become desperate, his demeanor more confident than he really was. Rai recognized the effort he was giving, moving his right hand to weave his fingers through red hair comfortingly.

"Don't worry." Rai gave him a dazzling grin, still trying to bargain for Jack's repose before continuing. "So, my past, hmm...

"Well, I grew up with a poor family in the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro. I had many brothers and sisters; there were seven of us. So, to keep us alive, to put it bluntly, I worked in a circus. I was an acrobat; I flew across the stage magnificently, walked across tight ropes, and jumped and flipped with ease. It was great in the beginning."

"In the beginning?" Jask asked, his eyebrows raised an inch.

"I'm getting there. Now shut up; I didn't interrupt _you _when you were talking, did I? Didn't think so, Spicer.

"Anyway, as I was saying, it was awesome in the beginning. But when I got older... Things got a bit... Unruly.

"There were multiple people in the circus' crew that... well... wanted to pound my ass into the ground. And was I freaked out. These guys were my buddies, my co-workers... And they wanted to do my adolescent ass more than anything.

"So I left. And my income came with me.

"My family suffered the most. They were barely eating, and it was all my fault. They didn't care too much about that, though. They wanted to know why I had left the circus. I avoided telling them because I thought it was embarrassing.

"Then, one day, two guys from the circus stopped by. They offered double what they used to pay me. It seemed like they seriously needed me. They were so desperate, and I was so pressured, so I ended up screaming, "I don't want to get raped!" And everyone just stopped as they finally realized what was wrong with me.

"So then I dedicated myself to studying, to becoming smart and getting a good job to make my family back in Rio rich and pampered. I'm still trying for it."

Jack stared at his boyfriend incredulously, finally realizing where his protectiveness came from. But, like always, sarcasm bled into his tone, covering up any sincere concern he held for Rai. "Wow. How noble."

Rai snorted, a miniscule feeling of satisfaction in his chest from the pseudo compliment he received from _Jack Spicer_. "Yeah, that's one way to put it."

"Yeah, it is," Jack scoffed, his eyes betraying his aloof words. Rai poked his nose affectionately, happy to see the light return to the blazing fires of his eyes. A blush rose to his cheeks and he hurried to change the subject. "So what are you going for, anyway?"

"Doctor. Immunologist. You?" Rai was feeling as if he were standing on top of the world, having conquered the beast that was Jack's sheltered soul, his quintessence, his being. The real, quaking boy hiding behind a strong fortress of empty self-confidence, intelligence, and arrogance was now his in its entirety, finally opening the door to let him in and soothe him.

Jack was unaware of Rai's inner triumph, still inwardly shaking. But he looked at the Brazilian with strong eyes, not afraid to give himself to the brunet holding him possesively. Although he sure was glad to hide behind the pretense of calmness as they spoke of mundane topics. "Scientist, specializing in physics and mechanics. Probably gonna find a way to perfect artificial intelligence."

"Nice."

"You, too."

A moment of silence passed before Rai turned his head to kiss Jack gently, giving him that wordless reassurance that Jack was starting to crave. He deserved it, going his whole childhood without even a wink of the security offered by a person he had only known for three months. It never really hit him, was never really a concern. They may have only known each other for twelve weeks, but the intamacy shared gave them the sense of familiarity that best friends and even lovers had.

Rai pulled away reluctantly, allowing Jack to resume his studying. They had their whole lives to babble, but they only had four weeks before exams.

* * *

Disclaimer: The chapter title is a quote from "The Lion King" and it does not belong to me. Just so you know.

A/N: Oh shit, and there goes the plot. Didn't I warn that there would be fluff? Cause I think my teeth are falling out here. Oh shit again.  
By the way, I had to change up the dates to make it seem a little more plausible. Their relationship I mean. So I guess that midterms are now officially a month away from actual exams instead of the usual one and a half? I don't exactly remember anymore. Does living together act as an excuse, because God knows I need one xP


	7. Have a KitKat

**Walking the Thin Line**

Chapter Seven - Have a KitKat

Jack groaned, burying his face in his notes. His first exam was in five days, and he'd been studying his ass off. It was like he was trying to perfectly copy and paste the information into his brain. Although he was a genius, it didn't hurt to be prepared.

As the redhead sat at the desk, his head pressed against his papers and the desk itself, the door opened and Raimundo walked inside. He slowed when he saw his boyfriend resting, a concerned expression gracing his features.

"Jack," the tanned student called, closing the distance between the two, "Jack, are you okay?" Rai started using his first name about two weeks from then, as if he were still fighting for Jack's trust. Jack was getting tired of both the endeavors, telling him that he didn't need to worry, _I mean, no one has ever given me what you do_, and that Jack was shorter than Spicer in the first place. Both very logical points pertaining to only the most intelligent geniuses.

"'M fine," he mumbled, his voice partially muffled by his papers. He didn't bother to lift his head. "Stupid control button's not working."

Rai raised an eyebrow at this, leaning an elbow on the top of Jack's grand, leather chair. "You're not using a computer, Jack."

Jack blinked against the desk. "Oh. Yeah. Right."

Rai snorted, reaching over to play with the bands of the redhead's goggles. "Some boy genuis you are."

"Shut up."

The Brazilian smiled fondly at him. As Jack refused to move, he removed his goggles, slipping them on his own head. "You need a break."

"You have a KitKat for me, Rai?"

Rai laughed aloud at that. Even when he was lying face down in notes, trying to study, Jack still had it in himself to be sarcastic. "No, no... Let's go out. Some fresh air might do you good."

"I don't wanna move," Jack whined, his voice reaching a high pitched shrill tone that rivaled Kimiko's. "I've been sitting here for two hours, and I think my legs have melted into the ground."

"You seriously need to get out, dude," Rai replied, nudging the pale student pressed against the wooden desk. "C'mon. I seriously doubt that your legs have melted into the ground. I don't think that it's possible."

"You're the doctor here, Rai, of course you know," Jack retorted as he started to shift his position. He slid his arms out from under his head, using them to push himself off the desk. The sounds of multiple bones popping and cracking sounded out as he struggled to get up.

"Ugh, gross. Your legs might not have melted into the ground, but your bones might have melted into themselves," Rai muttered in disgust, his handsome face settling into a grimace.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You want me to get up, I get up. You shouldn't complain," Jack retorted, stretching his long, skinny limbs. More cracks and pops were triggered from the movement, causing Rai's grimace to widen.

"Who said I was complaining?" The Brazilian responded, heading back to the door. "Anyway, let's grab an ice cream and we'll drop by Clay's to play some video games, okay?"

"Fine, fine, whatever," the pale redhead muttered under his breath, sulkily following Rai out the door and into the outside world.

* * *

Rai licked hungrily at his ice cream as he and Jack walked to dorm building two, side by side. He was giving quite the show to Jack, who was blushing brightly. The red color stood out like a sore thumb against the paleness of Jack's skin, matching with his embarrassed red eyes and flaming hair.

"It seems like you're enjoying your ice cream," Jack pointed out, his voice surprisingly calm despite the fact that he was very embarrassingly turned on by the way the Brazilian was attacking his ice cream. If he had busy hands, this guy must have a busy tongue... _Then again, he thinks he's as smooth as butter, it would make sense if he knew how to court even the coldest bitches out there. I would know._

"Mm?" Rai stopped and realized what he was doing. He blushed also, gulping down ice cream before he murmured, "Sorry." It sounded only somewhat apologetic with the way he grinned behind the mound of frozen dairy.

"S'okay," Jack replied, his tone showing no concern for the subject, "But if you continue, we might not make it to Clay's."

Rai's eyebrows shot up to his hairline as Jack opened the door for him, a knowing smirk on the pale student's face. He almost let go as Rai hurried into the building, sending Jack a dirty look.

"Wrong time to say that, Spicer." Rai looked up, a hopeless expression on his face. "Why _now_, when I get those morals that you supposedly have, instead of the time I needed it most? Why, cruel world?"

"Maybe because _now's_ the time _I_ need some. The idea of seducing you relieves stress, believe it or not," Jack replied as they started on the stairs to the second floor.

"I know, I know," Rai muttered. "I just wish that I _didn't_."

The pair continued up the stairs in silence, both of them wondering if they should just turn back and have sex then. It wasn't such a bad idea, but it had only been two months and... well, there was no other valid excuse by now, but they didn't care. They were already at Clay's door, no point in turning back.

Rai knocked loudly at the white door of Clay's dorm room as Jack tapped his foot impatiently. When the tanned student stopped, they heard some shuffling, a few giggles that definitely couldn't have come from Clay, yet sounded disturbingly familiar, and the sound of someone tripping over some clothes. When the door opened, what the two students saw was the flushed face of Clay Bailey.

Jack raised an eyebrow and said, "What the hell have you been up to?"

Clay ignored him. "Can I help you, partner?"

"Uh, we just came over to see if we could just crash and play some video games, but it seems that you're, uh, _busy_, so we can just, you know..." Rai trailed off as he took a step back.

"Thanks," was all the blonde said before closing the door again. The shuffling of clothes across the floor was heard, and any other sounds fell on deaf ears as the two roommates hurried out of the dorm building.

* * *

"Ugh, see, even _Clay's_ getting some," was the first thing that Jack said when they returned to their dorm room. He stared at the dark purple carpet of their dorm room floor as he swung his sock-clad feet back and forth idly.

"So why don't we have sex, right here, right now?" Rai replied, mimicking Jack's movements.

"I dunno... Maybe after exams... As a Christmas gift, maybe."

"Oh yeah, Christmas... How time flies when you have exams," Rai muttered to himself as he mentally slapped himself on his forehead. Ugh. Just what he needed... Although Christmas was three whole weeks away.

"Hmm... You know what, why don't we go out and play in the snow, or something," Jack suggested, his gaze was still pointed at the ground as if he were embarrassed at what he had said.

Rai smiled fondly at the redhead despite his reaction to his own words. "That's a good idea, Jack. I suppose that you really do live up to that "boy genius" title of yours."

"...Thanks."

"Emphasis on the boy," Rai added, ducking away from Jack's fist as they walked out the door for the second time that day.

"Rai, you're such a mean boyfriend. Hell, I should sue you for verbal abuse, or something," Jack said as they walked down the hall of their dorm building. "Hmm, then again, I might end up bankrupting your family if I win..."

"Jack, shut the hell up. You're ranting again." Rai gave a sideways glance to his redheaded roommate as they rounded a corner into the front of the dorm building. He opened the door for his boyfriend as he said, "You should really keep yourself from trailing off when using sarcasm."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Jack walked ahead of Raimundo, his boots crunching the snow beneath his feet. "So, where are we going to? Any specific places in mind, Rai?"

"Ehh... Here's fine. Besides, if anyone sees us here, then we could always go back and have that sex you were talking about," Rai said with wink. Jack blanched.

"Heeeeey. Don't bring that up. Why would we even have to-- _Hey!_" Again his voice had gone up a few octaves as Jack's arm was pelted by a snowball, cutting him off effectively. The pale student scowled before bending down to clumsily make his own snowball. The motion gave Rai a whole new area to hit, and he did not pass up the opportunity.

"GAH! Dammit, Rai, that's _cold_!" Jack exclaimed, extending the "o" in cold, before dropping his pile of snow. He pouted childishly at his roommate, earning him a snowball to the face. With a harsh growl attempting to mask another squeal, the pale redhead jumped the tanned student, knocking him into the snow. They rolled around for a bit, their coats soaking with the water from the snow.

The pair laid there for a bit, breathing quietly as Jack listened to the muffled sound of Rai's heartbeat. Gloved fingers were slowly combing through red hair, the motion calming the both of them down. They were cool against his scalp, moisture playing with multiple strands of hair.

"...Jack?" Rai asked, glancing down at the redhead's frosted goggles. The yellow object was a tad lopsided on the student's head because of his positioning on Rai's body, a red-tinted ear pressed against his torso.

"Yes?" Jack answered, tilting his head back to look at green eyes. The lighting of the snow filled world outside of their school made the green a shiny, glazed color, resembling grass covered in early morning dew.

"I..." Rai trailed off, still staring at Jack's eyes. For once, it was his turn to sound insecure as he searched burning irises. "You... Don't want to do me just 'cause I'm hot, right?"

Jack blinked at the question, finding it somewhat random, but he could not resist saying, "Who in the world said I want to do you 'cause I think you're hot?" He came off disbelieving and aloof, but the crease in his brow showed that he was concerned about the Brazilian's sudden doubt.

"Jack, don't." Rai rolled his eyes, but his face was serious as he continued, "No, seriously, answer me..."

Jack moved his head again so that he could look at his tanned roommate properly, moving his hands under his chin so that he wasn't poking Rai's ribcage with his jaw. "No, of course not, god. I'm not _that _shallow." Rai's eyebrows shot up. "Okay, fine, but you being incredibly good looking just happened to be a lucky coincidence."

Green eyes were rolled for the second time in a few minutes. "So even if I wasn't as handsome as I am, you would still do me."

"Yes, Rai, I would." Jack tapped Rai's chest for a bit, studying the buttons on the Brazilian's coat before saying, "Your looks don't mean a thing to me. Your personality is just as great as your appearance, and I... I'd do you for that."

"For my personality," Rai repeated, holding back a smile as Jack glared at him.

"You know what I mean," the pale student replied, returning his gaze back down to Rai's coat buttons. "I... I guess that... I really..."

"You don't need to tell me, Jackie," Rai murmured softly, returning to running his hands through wild red hair. Strong arms wrapped around Jack's waist, pulling him up to eye-level with Rai. "Just... Stay with me, always..." _Make me feel at home somewhere miles away from Rio, remind me that even the most confident men in the world are vulnerable._

Jack's eyelashes fluttered prettily as he looked at Rai with a half-lidded gaze, his forehead pressed gently against Rai's. He couldn't understand the exact meaning of his words, didn't hear what he hadn't said, but knew his answer was what he wanted to hear. What made it even better was that it was the absolute truth. "Of course, Rai... I promise." _God knows I would suffer through serious withdrawl if I didn't have you for long enough. _Rai gave him attention that no one else had. The closest thing to that was being needed by Wuya, which he grew sick of when he realized that it was an empty feeling, knowing that it wasn't a genuine desire to have _him_ there.

A gloved hand ghosted lightly against Jack's pale skin as he stroked his cheek. The Brazilian's hand made its way down to Jack's chin, holding it carefully as he tugged it down so that their lips could meet softly. The hand moved again to cradle the redhead's face as his other one found its way to the back of Jack's neck, holding the pale student in place. Not that he could move away_._ Paler hands rested gently on broad shoulders, fingers idly tracing odd patterns on the fabric of his coat as they kissed. They broke apart to exchange looks again, smiles mirrored on both faces.

"Jack..." the tanned student murmured, nuzzling his roommate's nose gently. Jack would normally be opposed to the snuggly, heart warming gesture of affection from him, much more comfortable with detachment, but he knew he could get used to this quickly.

"Yes...?" the redhead breathed in reply, his eyes opening a bit more so that he could look Rai in the eyes. The green of his eyes resembled the outside world that Jack avoided his whole life, preferring to stay at home where no one could hurt him. It was somewhat refreshing, and much more desirable than the real world. He could get lost in these eyes, knowing nothing about true affection and the greens of forests and meadows.

"Nothing..." And with that, the Brazilian claimed chapped lips again, returning Jack's promise as they lay there in the snow, white flakes falling down serenely in the background.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry about all the eye... things.

Did I mention that this fic was fluffy? Hot damn.


	8. Fast Thinking

**Walking the Thin line**

Chapter Eight - Fast Thinking

_I don't need this, _Rai thought to himself miserably, his arm draped across his tanned features as he laid sprawled out on his bed, _I don't need an education, I don't need a uniform, I don't need a dorm room, and I _definitely _don't need exams... I'll just work at some fast food restaurant, or somethi--_

The Brazilian's train of thought was cut off as Jack stumbled in through the door. Collecting his scrawny limbs, he spun on his heel and locked the door. In a few clumsy strides, the pale student was across the room, falling onto his bed with a resounding _thump_.

A fond smile played on Raimundo's lips as he regarded his roommate affectionately. _Oh, but I need _him_, though._

The bed creaked as the brunet sat up. As soon as his foot hit the ground, the redhead spread out on pale purple sheets groaned. Rai's brow furrowed, wondering in the back of his mind if his steps were really that loud. Last time he checked the carpets muffled the sound of socks on the floor.

"_No_, Rai, not right now," he said, his voice almost a growl. The pale student's face was pressed firmly against his pillow, so his voice was muffled. "I'm so fuckin' _tired_..."

The Brazilian frowned. Jack was never so resistant before; he must be _very _exhausted to say no to Rai.

Staring hard at his boyfriend's back, Rai shuffled back onto his bed, drawing his legs up to his chest. _If he's tired, fine. I'll let him rest. I just... I just hope he'll be okay..._

Across the room, Jack smiled inwardly. Although he was somewhat uncomfortable lying on a box, he was glad that he'd managed to ward Rai from the package when he'd come in. The redhead didn't want Rai finding out what _this_ was, oh no...

* * *

After taking a doze, Rai woke up to the sound of paper rustling. He blinked bleary green eyes groggily, running a hand through his hair before raking his gaze slowly across the room. The white of the dorm walls greeted his vision before he sighted his boyfriend hunched over near the closet on Jack's side. The persistent noise seemed to come from over there.

Trying to be as quiet as possible to avoid Jack's perception, Rai pushed the sheets off his wrinkled dress shirt and slowly slid his legs over the side of the bed. As he pushed his lower half off the bed, Jack turned around and offered the Brazilian a bright smile, holding his arms in front of him disarmingly. Rai quirked an eyebrow.

"Jack," he breathed, his voice a little coarse from sleep, "Uh, what's up?"

"Nothing," the redhead replied, his voice a little too cheerful. In three quick steps, he was pressed against Rai, the shorter boy's knees wobbling against the edge of the bed. "You wanted me earlier...?"

Steadying himself, the tanned student placed his hands on Jack's shoulders and looked him straight in the eye, green against red. It registered faintly that it was almost like Christmas with the way their eyes matched. "Yeah, but... What the hell's gotten into you?"

Jack shrugged, idly encircling Rai's waist with his arms. He traced slow pattens on the small of his back. "Again, nothing. I'm just more awake now that the after shock of exams has passed."

The Brazilian stared at him suspiciously. The redhead replied with a peck on the lips.

"Are you not in the mood, or something?" Jack asked, his voice lighthearted as his arms dropped. "'Cause you know, I could be _studying_ if you don't want to do anything..."

Quickly, Rai leaned in and touched his lips to Jack's. He could almost _feel_ the withheld smirk as he mumbled, "No, no, I'm always up for making out... I just think you're being a bit weird is all."

"Aren't I weird all the time?"

The brunet laughed at that, the vibration rattling faintly against the redhead's teeth. "True, true. All right then, I guess that there's nothing in the way of having _you_, you delicious piece of..."

Jack tilted his head and closed the distance between their lips, opening his mouth to let Rai in. His tongue slid playfully against his, humming low in his throat as he slipped a leg between Rai's. The Brazilian fell back onto the bed behind him, angling his legs to grind their hips together. He rolled his pelvis as the redhead leaned forward, placing his arms above the brunet's head as they parted briefly for air.

Rai's breath came in shallow breaths as he leaned his head against Jack's shoulder. Just in the corner of his hazy view, the Brazilian could see a small robot tucking something into Jack's closet. Intrigued, he sat up, attempting to look over the pale student's shoulder.

_Oh shit, I think he saw it! _Jack thought to himself, quickly sighting Rai's line of interest. _Damn robot doesn't work fast enough..._

A little panicked, the redhead hurriedly pressed his mouth against Rai's, drawing his attention away from the movement in the corner of the room. The tanned student played along for a while, inwardly tucking the information away in the back of his mind.

When they parted lips again, Rai laid his head back, drawing his arms up to rest under it. He smiled up at his boyfriend before asking, "So, what are you hiding from me?"

If Jack were a lesser man, he would have froze and gave everything away in a moment. But since he wasn't, he merely nipped at Rai's lips, giving replies in a clipped fashion. "What-- do-- you-- mean-- "hiding"--?"

The kissing was a slight distraction, the shorter student had to admit. A light buzz filled the back of his mind as he raised his gaze to look Jack in the eyes, trying to see past the veil of protective red flames. "You know what I mean. I saw that robot, and about earlier..."

"Rai, you know I work with robotics, I don't think it's very surprising that I have one milling around back there," was Jack's smart reply as he stopped moving his lips. The redhead's full attention was on him now. "And I was just _tired_, okay? Don't tell me _you_ don't get tired after three hours of sitting at a desk, scribbling down as much shit as you can."

Rai stared back at him, his brow furrowed in thought. Ruffled, Jack replaced his attention to the Brazilian below him, licking up and down the sides of his throat. His hands were starting to creep to his stomach and his breath hitched in anticipation. The idea of Jack's robot was starting to fade from his thoughts.

"Still..."

"Still nothing," Jack replied firmly, biting into the Brazilian's collarbone. A yelp escaped his lips as a brief flash of pain spread throughout the base of his neck. Green eyes glared at the redhead before Rai flipped them over, pinning Jack's wrists above his head.

As the pale student was being attacked with another's mouth, a triumphant grin settled across his face. _Jack one, Rai ze-ero!_

* * *

Although Jack had thought he'd won that battle, Rai was determined to find out what it was that he was hiding from him. After the redhead had gone off to grab a snack down at the convenience store across campus, the Brazilian decided to sift through Jack's closet and see just what he was trying so hard to hide.

Sock-clad feet slid quietly across the carpeted floor as Rai made his way over to Jack's side of the room. He absently picked up a red coat and folded it, a habit he'd picked up back in Rio. Living in a house full of unruly kids made a home dirty, so it wasn't very surprising that the student had to pick up a lot of miscellaneous items back in the day. He placed the piece of clothing on Jack's rumpled bed and sat on the foot of it, taking his time.

_Jack probably has some sort of alarm on the door or something, _Rai thought to himself, examining the door and the brass knob. He decided, after a few minutes of staring, that the boy genius probably didn't make it so obvious as to leave it in the open.

Tapping his chin with his index finger, the Brazilian reconsidered his attack on the door. _It must be important for him to hide it from me... Maybe it's my Christmas present!_

The idea made only made his even more curious. He began to bounce in his seat, his mind rolling with excited thoughts. _Ooh, I wonder what it could be! Maybe he'd gotten me that game I wanted... No, maybe he'd gotten me a new chair! No, wait, that's too big... Hmm, he's rich, so the possibilities are endless!_

Rai returned his attention to the door, his fingers aching to feel the cool brass under his skin, to actually turn the knob. _Well, if it _does _have an alarm in it, he's not here to hear it, so I guess I could just..._

Out of Raimundo's notice, the door clicked open and Jack's red eyes peered into the room from the slit in the doorway. It was quiet, so he figured that Rai wasn't on his computer or playing a game or something. The redhead found it slightly suspicious, so he cautiously slipped into the room, closing the door behind him. As he set his bag down, the pale student had located his boyfriend on _his_ side of the room.

_Oh shi-- I hope he hasn't seen anything!_ Jack started to panic. He had to stop the brunet at _any_ cost. Now, what would distract him?

_Hmm, maybe I should shout something... But what? Yelling, "Look, a naked girl"! is out of the question now that... _Jack shook his head. _Ugh..._

By now, Rai had stepped up to the closet's door. He was still staring at it, mulling it over in his mind if he _really_ wanted to invade his roommate's privacy.

_Dammit...! _"R-Rai! I, uh, I love you!"

* * *

A/N: Wow, has it really been that long? Sorry for abandoning this for a while; I've been meaning to update this a few months ago, but then my laptop died and I lost the start of the new chapter. Then I left it _again_... But after receiving a review (thanks, by the way! To all of you C8) I was reminded of this existance, so, well... I hope this chapter makes up for the wait! (it probably doesn't, but, well...)  
Also, these guys are now officially two weeks before Christmas. Rai has four more exams left and Jack has three. Until next time!

Edit: Not much to really change about this one. Added a few things here and there, but for once my writing was adequate. Cx


	9. Only Gift that I Need

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* * *

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Walking the Thin line

Chapter Nine - Only Gift that I Need

_**By now, Rai had stepped up to the closet's door. He was still staring at it, mulling it over in his mind if he really wanted to invade his roommate's privacy.**_

**Dammit...! _"R-Rai! I, uh, I love you!"_**

As soon as the words had left his mouth, Jack's fingers clamped onto the hem of his coat to stop them from slapping his face. _Jesus Christ, of all the things to say, _that_ had been the first thing to come to mind._ Pausing, the redhead processed this a little more, blanching to an even paler shade. _But since it _was_ the first thing to come to mind... I guess, I guess it's true, then. _

_Shit._

Raimundo's attention was caught by those three, tiny little words that Jack managed to choke out in some awkward rhythm that captured his attention completely. He whipped his head around to face his pale roommate, the closet forgotten for now. "You... You _what_?"

"I said I--"

"No, no, I heard you," Rai interrupted, turning his gaze to the floor. A tanned hand rose to rub his forehead, a dazed look adorning his face. "I was just... Making sure."

Slowly, the brunet made his way over to the foot of Jack's bed, his feet moving sluggishly across the carpet. Jack watched on, worried if he'd upset his boyfriend.

"Are... Are you okay?" the redhead asked, taking a few steps forward. He worried his lower lip between his teeth. _All this just to protect..._

The Brazilian lifted is eyes to Jack's, motioning with his hands for him to approach. The pale student pulled at his collar, nervously dragging his weight over to his roommate. When he was within arms' reach, Rai pulled him into his lap, winding him slightly. With a bronze hand on his back and one on the nape of his neck, the brunet pulled him down for a searing kiss.

The redhead's eyes almost popped right out his head in surprise.

With a few flicks of his tongue, Rai released the breathless student's lips and held him. "I love you, too, Jack, but you seriously have to tell me just _what_ the _fuck_ you're hiding in there. If you thought you could get away with this just by pulling a fast one, you need to refresh your memory and remember who you're dealing with here."

Jack sighed, sagging against the brunet's shoulder. He resisted the urge to bury his face into his body. "Fine. It's your Christmas present."

Rai gave him a dry chuckle in response, frustration starting to build up in his stomach. "Very vague. Are you gonna tell me what it is, or should I keep it a surprise?"

"What do you think I've been _doing_ for the past few days, you loser?" Jack asked, gripping Rai's shoulders harder. Looking at green eyes told him that he was just as annoyed by not knowing as he was about having to hide it.

"I dunno... After all, I _do_ love spoiling all your hard work."

"You can be a _real_ son of a bitch sometimes, you know?"

Rai smiled affectionately at the scowl pulled across his boyfriend's face. "Yes, I know. You know I do it all for you, you fucker."

"Haha. And _you_ know I appreciate it, you shit-face."

"Asswipe."

"Cock-muncher."

"Ohoho, if only, Jack. If only."

Jack groaned, pushing away from the Brazilian with a frown. "You know what, you little..."

"Little what? I'm only shorter than you by an inch, so if you're talking about _that_, I'd be happy to prove you wrong..." Rai replied merrily, a face splitting grin etched into his tanned face. He poked at Jack's scowling form. "Aww, come on. I'll leave your little present alone for now, okay?"

Jack continued to pout at him, his brow furrowed in annoyance. "You really suck. Seriously."

"I know, I know, but come _on_. Here, I'll show you _my_ gift for you if you show me yours," the brunet drawled, shaking Jack's shoulders weakly. He leaned in and nipped at his neck.

"No, no, _no_, I plan to do Christmas _right _for once." The redhead crossed his arms over his chest defiantly, giving Rai the evil eye. "After so many years of business trips and maid service, I think I deserve to set up a little Christmas tree and everything."

The Brazilian's eyebrows shot up, realization settling into his features. "Oh. _Now_ I get it." He stood up, gently pushing his boyfriend off his lap. "Wait here. I'll be _right back_, okay?"

"Whatever."

Rai ignored his stubbornness and bounded out the door with a wave. "See ya in a bit!"

* * *

When Raimundo came back, Jack was sitting at their desk, examining his notes. The redhead still had three more exams, if Rai's memory served correct.

_Perfect_, the Brazilian thought with a grin, pushing the door open with his hip. With a quiet grunt, he shuffled into the carpeted room, heaving a fake tree onto the floor. It fell with a muted _thump_, allowing Rai to move around it to drag it into the corner of the dorm room. After attempting to place it in various areas, the brunet was appeased, so he retreated back into the hallway to retrieve a box full of decorations. He hummed quietly to himself as he wrapped shining tinsel around the plastic branches.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack could see Rai busying himself with decorating a plastic tree. He smiled to himself as he set his highlighter down, swivelling around in his leather chair. The redhead crossed his legs as he took in the sight of a half-lit tree covered in multi-colored baubles. A star sat on the top, beaming down at him at a crooked angle, lighting up his small smile even more.

"You don't have to do this."

Rai turned for a moment and smiled at him. "But I do. This is only half of what's to come in a few weeks. It'll cheer you up if exams become an even bigger pain in the ass."

The redhead leaned back in his chair as his roommate continued his work, giving him an obvious show of his toned behind. "Well, you dancing around like that is enough to please me."

"Haha, didn't know you were so easy, Jack."

"Oh, up yours. Maybe I _won't_ give you sex on Christmas if you keep giving me smart shit."

Rai frowned at him. Jack laughed, his eyes glinting in amusement.

"Are you really that concerned?" he asked, tilting his head with a grin. The yellow goggles perched on his head shifted into a lopsided position.

Standing on his toes to straighten a string of lights, Rai nodded. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. Getting that pale ass of yours is the best part of the fucking holiday, you know."

Despite himself, Jack blushed at the hint of a compliment. "I guess that this will be a _fucking_ holiday, huh?"

The Brazilian flashed him another grin. "I do hope so. You'll see eventually, Jackie."

"Ehh. Just as long as you're not giving me a block of fruitcake, I think I can live."

Rai stood back to take in his work. The lights were now a perfect spiral from the tip of the tree to the bottom, trailing off to an outlet. The star was flickering with age, but it stood tall and bright. Colors reflected off the surfaces of the neatly placed baubles, creating a rainbow effect on the tree. Lastly, the tinsel shone and shimmered in the flickering lights.

The brunet turned around and held up his arms. "What do you think?"

Licking his lips, Jack stood up to join him, his eyes set on the tanned student in front of him. He honestly didn't care what the tree looked like, but the Brazilian looked almost angelic bathed in the gaudy, multi-colored lights, smiling that goddamn disarming smile of his. Rai could identify the hungry look in his boyfriend's eyes, watching as red flames licked at round pupils in Jack's eyes. He grabbed Jack's goggles and set them on his head, completing the oddly romantic picture.

Jack drew him close, encircling his waist with pale arms. Rai looked up at him with hooded eyes, leaning their noses together. With a content sigh, Jack muttered into his ear. "Perfect."

* * *

A/N: Meeeeeeeeeeeeerry Chriiiiiiistmas and happy holidays, folks! Expect another fucking chapter within the next few days before Christmas shit goes out of season. Enjoy the early gift! (well, to those who live in timezones where it hasn't passed midnight yet)  
This chapter was mainly for the snark of these guys. Not a lot happened, much to my disappointment, but I wanted to give it to you guys by Christmas, so deal 8P


	10. Surprise!

Edit: If you see this update and realize, hey, this isn't new, go check out the new chapters, three and four, and then decide if it's updated or not. While you're at it, read the big update I made to chapter five and probably the rest. Just... Reread this. If you want to see the updates.

**Walking the Thin Line**

Chapter Nine - Surprise!

Jack stared wearily at his alarm clock, reading the blinking red digits with sleepy red eyes. It read, "9:47 a.m.". With a groan, he turned over, burying his face into his pillow. _So fucking early..._

As he began to doze off again for the third time that morning, he heard the sound of a door opening in the distance. He decided to tune it out, scratching idly at the wild mop of red hair on his head as he turned over again.

"_Rise and shine, Jackie!_"

_Jesus fucking Christ! _Jack sat up with a start, eyes snapping open. He reached up to rub at his eyes, a low groan rumbling from his chest. "Fuck, Rai, what the hell? It's not even ten yet, and you're... Holy shit, what the fuck?!"

Staring at the crowd assembled in the doorway, Jack rubbed at his eyes again. "Rai? Clay? Kimiko? Omi? _Wuya_? What is this, a Saturday morning special?"

Grinning, the brunet walked in, dropping off a box in front of their Christmas tree on the way. "No, you retard, it's _Christmas_, so I brought the whole gang in."

"Jack, what the hell did I tell you about using foul language?" the redheaded woman scolded, striding in to brush at Jack's bedhead. He flinched away, wondering just why she was acting so motherly suddenly, being familiar to her cold detachment from her previous years of "caring" for him.

"Nothing, Wuya," he growled, swatting her hands away. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his boyfriend giggling at him. A bright blush rose to his cheeks as he returned his gaze to his mother-figure. He noticed that she wasn't wearing make-up for once. "So you've finally deemed it worthy for you to visit me on a holiday? What about the business?"

She waved a perfectly manicured hand, dismissing him with a scoff. "I think that I can trust Chase with that."

Jack scrubbed at his face vigorously, ignoring the slight pain caused by the friction. "Okay guys, I know this is sweet and all, but can I at _least_ get changed before facing all this? Kinda blindsided me here."

The grin melted off Rai's face as he realized that his private view of his boyfriend wasn't so private anymore. "Okay! Everyone out, we need to get this guy dressed before we can really start things up, heheh, so, um, just wait in the hall please!"

The group gathered near the doorway groaned loud complaints, claiming that they had just arrived and he was kicking them out already. Jack thought that he heard something about not even getting to the drinks yet, but he didn't think that any of Rai's wimpy friends could hold much alcohol. The redhead sat in bed dumbly as Rai pressed his back against the door, sending him a grin hat told him that he had everything under control. Jack wanted to believe him, he did, but the mere idea of the large amount of people outside of his door was clawing at his throat.

"Rai," the pale student breathed quietly, watching his boyfriend approach his bedside slowly, "You didn't have to do all this."

"Of course I didn't," Rai said smugly, smirking. He ran a hand slowly up Jack's leg, which was still encased in a tangled blanket. "But I wanted to. You deserve a Christmas with good people as company instead of nothing."

The redhead noted that he didn't say anything like "spending time with people who love you" or "having something normal", and he found it almost sweet. A shiver ran through his system as the hand on his leg climbed higher, distracting him.

"Rai," he muttered again, his voice raspy with sleep and arousal. Jack dug his teeth into his bottom lip, reprimanding himself mentally for letting himself sound so weak. Inhaling deeply, he shook his head in wonder. He released the air from his lips just as slowly, reluctantly removing Rai's hand from his body as he got up.

"I'm gonna get dressed," he said under his breath, feet scratched by the carpet below. Luckily around this time of the year, where students usually went home to their families while he found that studying was more pleasant then two weeks with his guardian, the school was less strict about rules and didn't care much, as it was Christmas. They figured that the grounds would be empty, though the buildings were still functioning and open because of the strays that stayed from home.

Jack climbed out of his loose sleeping clothes, a pair of sweat pants that were covered in lint from wear, fully aware of the show he was giving to Raimundo. He was scrawny, he would admit to that. The redhead would rather spend time in his lab building something new than eat, so he'd missed meals in the past and never regained the lost weight. He also knew that carrying equipment up and downs flights of stairs would at least tone his skinny body a little bit. Sticking his head into his closet, he easily found a red shirt and a long, black sweater, throwing them on over his messy red hair. He grabbed a pair of black jeans from the bottom of the closet and slowly slid them up his long legs, grinning as he swung his hips a little. Behind him Rai let out a loud bark of a laugh.

"You guys had better not be doing anything disgusting in there!" Kimiko yelled through the door, her voice becoming somewhat shrill. There was a deep murmur that followed, the tone resembling Clay's and Jack knew that the blond was trying to calm the woman down.

"What, it's not my fault that they're taking so long." Even when she was trying to be quiet, Kimiko's voice was heard through the door, albeit muffled. She sounded annoyed, which wasn't much of a surprise, and Jack had to laugh himself.

"Let them have their privacy, Kim," Clay rumbled in reply.

Jack had enough experience listening through doors. When he was young, he would sneak to his parents' room at night and crouch by their door, his ear pressed against carved, expensive oak. They used to argue a lot, and his mother's cough was the only thing that would get them to stop. At least his father wasn't a total jackass. _He left us anyway. They never did find him..._

The pale student glanced over to the Brazilian sitting on his bed, biting back the urge to smile when he saw a mischievous look on his face. He continued his path towards the door, sauntering across the floor femininely as he tossed his head back. Rai laughed again, eliciting a grin from Jack as he opened the door.

Omi squeaked in surprise, startled by the wide grin on Jack's face. "It's n-nice to see you as well, Jack Spicer."

The smile softened when he saw the small, bald student shuddering without shame outside of his door. He rolled red eyes and pulled the door towards his body, giving the guests room to come in. "Of course it's nice to see me. When is it not nice to see me?"

"Well, it is not pleasant to see you when you are being very close to Rai, I find that to be very disturbing," Omi stated, his voice sounding somewhat absent, "And right after exams. I remember that time last week when I wanted to see Raimundo and you almost broke my nose when you opened the door."

"Oh please, like I would bother showing you losers my good side," Jack replied, rolling his eyes. "You have to earn the privileges."

"Right, I feel so disappointed that I don't have to deal with the kind of snark you dish out," Kimiko said, hands on her hips. "I would hardly call it a priviledge. But from what Rai says about you, maybe you aren't that bad, Spicer."

The redhead flushed at the idea of Rai talking about him to his friends. Wuya never wanted to know about his latest accomplishments, why would someone who doesn't even _know_ him want to know? _Wait a second... Where is that witch, anyway?_ He scanned the room with red eyes, and Clay seemed to recognize his curiosity.

"If yer lookin' fer that woman who calls herself yer mother, she's not 'ere. Her pager went off and she left in a fit'a heels claimin' that she was needed. Who in tarnation would want someone like her around?" Clay looked distressed, frustrated that he didn't know the answer to his own question.

Jack snorted knowingly, taking a seat beside his roommate on the bed. The others formed a triangle in front them on the carpet. "Believe it or not, she is wanted by many people, but not for anything personal. She works like a demon and damn is she good at it."

Kimiko adopted a wistful, faraway look, curling a lock of streaked hair around her index finger. "I know what you mean. My dad is... Well, he owns a big company." She tugged at her hair, a slight frown on her round lips. Discomfort showed on her face, and Jack knew that she didn't like the idea of sharing the story with him.

The bed shifted as Rai stood, shoving his hands into the pockets of his faded jeans. The hem of his orange shirt pushed up with the action, the sides of his open hoodie lying over his hands. "I love sharing family stories, too, you guys, but it's fucking Christmas," he said softly, his back to them. "Can you not go after each others throats for once?"

Jack stood as well, but hesitated in his tracks. He controlled himself and his urge to look at the students sitting on the floor, refusing to let them see that he was looking for any signs of their approval. He didn't need it. He spent his whole childhood neglected by his parents and his childhood, he could take some lousy kids who didn't even know him, who didn't even like him. But as he stared at his boyfriend's back, he knew that maybe he would...

Omi pressed his lips together as he tried to mask his confusion. "But what do you mean? We are sitting relatively far from each other, not even close enough to shake hands. How can we be at each others' throats?"

Kimiko's eyes widened with realization, which only confused the short student even more. She gave Rai a helpless look and stood up. After doing so, she rubbed the area above her knees tenderly before offering a hand to her companions on the floor. When she moved her gaze to Jack, he could see the resignation in her eyes and gave her nod of understanding.

"Rai, I... Think I just realized how big a deal this is to you," she said slowly. Jack guessed that she must have known about Rai's family back in Rio and understanded the importance of family. "So I'll try to act civil around this asshole."

Rai turned and smiled at them. He set his shining green eyes on Jack almost possessively, muttering, "Yeah, he's an asshole alright. My asshole."

There was no way Jack wasn't going to take that opportunity. "Rai, last time I checked, your asshole was not nearly as good looking as me."

"But good looking nonetheless."

Kimiko giggled helplessly, standing closer to Clay than what seemed to be normal. The bulky man smiled as well, watching as Jack fumed quietly. Sensing the hesitation in the pale student, he sent a glance to the woman beside him, earning a confused look in reply. He sighed lowly, a vulnerability flashing in his eyes. It was a signal to trust him, and Kimiko softened as he wrapped an arm around her slender shoulders.

Rai was smiling still, approaching the group with lazy, slow strides. When his eyes settled on the odd couple leaning on each other, he stopped, feeling his jaw fall slack. The brunet raised a hand to stop the movement, his surprise making his reactions sluggish. He glanced over at Jack, who was having a harder time concealing his shock. The Brazilian bit his lip, hoping that Kimiko's temper wouldn't flare at the sight of his poorly-covered expression.

Surprising him further, Kimiko laughed, more heartily this time around, at their reactions. She spread a small hand on Clay's chest, splaying her fingers in what looked like an attempt to cover the large expanse of muscle. The wistful look reappeared on her face as she refused to meet their gazes. "Is it surprising?" was all she said, smiling almost secretively.

"Hell yeah it's surprising," Rai said, releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Omi looked up at the tanned student questioningly, holding his elbow in his hand. "Really? I thought you of all people knew. You talk to them everyday, don't you?"

Rai fumed, resisting the urge to shoot a glare at him. "Are you saying that they've been obvious about this and I haven't seen it?"

The bald student blanched at the suggestion, shaking his head vigorously. "Of course not! I just thought that maybe they might have informed you about their relationship already."

The Brazilian knew that Omi was not one to insinuate things, so he merely nodded, annoyed at himself for not noticing sooner. He pursed his lips and said, "Congrats, you two."

Kimiko smiled again, leaning forward as she said, "Oh come on, don't worry about it. I know you've been really distracted lately, juggling that scrawny bitch and your studies in your hands, and I wanted to see how long I could escape your attention."

Rai looked helplessly at Clay, who held up his free hand in defense. "Don't look at me, partner. It was all her idea."

"Right, and you're obviously not the one who decided that being open about your relationship would help me lighten up," Jack spat humorlessly, his back rigid. "I'm allowed to be uncomfortable about this kind of thing, okay? You didn't tell me about your family when you could have, and you know why? Because you don't trust me with that kind of info. And you honestly shouldn't. I don't trust you enough to be all touchy-touchy with Rai willingly."

"Willingly, you say?" Rai repeated, a mischevious smile on his tanned features. Jack nodded firmly, opening his mouth to further explain himself only to be cut off by Rai's lips. He slid an arm around his waist and pulled him closer, making quite a pose as he bent forward to prove his point.

When Jack looked up, he saw Kimiko with her eyes closed in barely disguised disgust. She peeked an eye open after a brief moment, and this time Jack grabbed Rai by the front of his shirt and shoved his tongue into his mouth forcefully, grinning when Kimiko closed her eyes again. A laugh escaped his throat, to which Rai gave him a half-hearted shove.

"Don't mess with her head," Rai said lightly, a smile betraying his words. jack rolled his eyes as the brunet slipped an arm around his waist again and gripped his hip with his long fingers.

Clay was smiling himself, pushing a stray lock of hair from Kimiko's forehead as he said, "Kim, I know that the idea of Jack here swappin' spit with rai ain't a nice idea, but there ain't no need to exaggerate." He leaned down to whisper something into her ear and she blushed fiercely, pushing him away as he grinned widely.

"I _don't_read shounen-ai manga, you bastard!" she exclaimed hotly, bumping into Omi as she backed away from her boyfriend. He gave her a curious look, puzzled by this new word.

"What is a shounen-ai manga, Kimiko?" Omi asked, head cocked to the side. "Is it one of your technology objects? It sounds rather interesting."

Clay snorted and shook his head. "Oh it is interestin' alright." He slipped a large hand into Kimiko's purse slung lowly against her hip, removing a book with the cover page on the back. There were two cartoon-ish men on the front who looked almost too pretty to be male, sparkly, large eyes and spikey hair adorning their features. The rest of the males in the room craned their necks to look over Omi's bald head as Kimiko stormed across the room angrily.

The bulky blond held the book open for them, instructing them how to read the panels in their proper order. Wide eyes followed his command as they read.

Kimiko managed to stomp back to the students clumped up in an odd circle and saw what Clay had done. Her flush went from angry to embarrassed again. She sighed with resignation, slumping onto the ground before placing her elbow on her knee and depositing her chin in her small palm.

Omi stood with wide eyes as Clay closed the book. He had witnessed more than he ever had in just one sitting. The bald student moved his gaze to Kimiko, his bottom lip quivering as he asked, "What is going to happen to Raito-nii-chii-sama-kun, Kimiko? Is he going to be alright?"

The two roommates giggled helplessly as Kimiko tried to explain the contents of the Japanese graphic novel to him, that there was going to be a happy ending because there's always a happy ending.

"But this is not a fairytale!" Omi exclaimed, arms flailing about. "There is no prestigious knight and no damsel in distress! There is merely two, uh... umm..."

"S'alright, Omi, you don't have to say nuthin'," Clay said soothingly, patting his round head sympathetically, "Just take the time to adjust."

"God, just what the hell is with the size of those eyes, Kimiko?" Jack asked, pulling at the corners of his own eyes, "They're so huge and sparkly."

"And don't forget the hair!" Rai added, tugging at Jack's red hair. "It's so shiny and spiky and long. Hell, it's like you couldn't even tell that they're both men!"

"And why does the bottom cry all the time?" Jack exclaimed. The room fell silent as all eyes turned to the redhead. He returned their looks, wondering why they were looking at him like that. When it did register in his head, he blushed indignantly and raised his voice to an even louder tone. "_Hey!_ I resent that! I am _not_ some cry baby bottom who takes it up the--"

"Sure you aren't," Rai cooed into his ear, running a fingertip across his jaw, "But I want you to remember that there's a certain gland there that does magical things when you--"

"Yeah, I saw that in one of your anatomy books," the pale student replied, his tone dropping. He tugged weakly at the collar of his shirt as Rai nipped his earlobe playfully.

Clay sighed as the two boyfriends started to whisper things into each others' ears, going to the other side of the room to gather his own significant other. Kimiko was pulling out another manga from her book and handing it to Omi, who opened it eagerly. She smiled fondly at the young student before joining Clay in the middle of the room. Just as she was about to ask the current residents of the dorm room about the time to open presents, she sighted them tangled in each others' limbs, her eyes widening in wonder.

"So... so... so..." Clay thought she was about to explode by the look on her face. He wasn't sure what the cause was as she continued to stutter and stare.

"So... _Kawaii!_" Kimiko cried, her hands on her cheeks. Her blue eyes shone in amazement as Clay looked at her quizzically. She grabbed his thick arm and used it to support her as she jumped up and down and squealed.

At the sound of her screaming, Jack and Rai jumped apart faster than Clay could have said "howdy". They wore matching blushes and stared at their feet, the carpet suddenly becoming very interesting.

"You know, y'all, I love all the family bonding, but it's nearin' midnight and we have some presents to open," Clay announced loudly, trying to catch everyone's occupied attention. In a second Omi was by his side, mimicking Kimiko's leaping as he said, "presents" again and again.

"Okay, okay, hold your freakin' horses," Jack muttered, holding a hand over Omi's mouth. The bald student stopped and glared at the redhead, along with Clay. He offered them both a small, sheepish smile, the first one directed towards anyone besides Rai, and walked over to the tree. Lifting a thing wrist, he checked his watch.

"Now we don't get to open presents until Christmas day," Jack stated, glancing up at his companions as they looked back at him anxiously. "And right now it's eleven fifty-nine p.m. So I'm going to count down from ten to midnight starting... now! Ten! Nine!"

As he chanted steadily and loudly, the rest of the group chanted with him.

"Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! ..._Yay, presents!_"

Jack was nearly trampled as the students rushed to the Christmas tree.

* * *

A/N: OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW LONG IT'S BEEN

And woo, I finally started watching the series! I'm going to rewrite most of the chapters, just to tweak a few dialogue lines and such, so feel free to go over them again during this week if you want to see the changes. I already have a new chapter to be inserted between chapters four and three to make the jump a little less sudden. Oh, and go check out the abridged series of XS on YouTube if you haven't already. Unfortunately, I am only on episode nine of season one so I can't watch the most recent abridged episode TwT Oh well, I'm an eager beaver.

So yeah, I'm happy to finally update this thing and get ahead on the plot. If you have noticed, this chapter is fairly longer than the last, so get used to it Cx i wrote chapters about this long for my latest fic, Guardian Angel. This also means that that chapter insert I mentioned above will probably be longer than the rest of the older chapters, where I would have split the chapter into two back then, but it would be too much of a hassle to insert both now, so yeah.

I'm also sorry about Omi's character so far. He's been a little too inquisitive and a little less, um, egotistical? as he would be in the show, but I haven't had enough opportunities to really show that. Just wait for that new chapter three, it has both Kim _and _Omi. Unfortunately there probably isn't going to be a Clay, but he was in like, chapter five or something, so I guess that's a bit of compensation for you guys, right...? (shot)

Long rant is long, and reviews and feedback and favorites and alerts and etc are all appreciated and welcomed! Thanks and merry Christmas in July!


	11. True Value

**Chapter Eleven - True Value**

Rai purposefully rolled into his boyfriend, chuckling at his inability to dodge. When the redhead managed to sit upright, Rai adjusted the goggles on his forehead.

"Now I get to see just what the fuck you've been hiding for so long," he said with a wide grin.

Jack tried to fight down a blush. "I... I hope you like it."

By the look of things, Jack must have worked hard on his present. Maybe he didn't use his riches to take an easy way out. Either way, Rai was just dying to open the gift. He tore apart the wrapping paper that encased a medium sized box. It was as big as a fiction novel, approximately, if not a bit bigger.

When he removed the lid from the box, he revealed a sleek, dark green metal box. There was a red button on the corner, but that was all he could see after turning the device around in his hands. Rai's brows furrowed in confusion as he pressed the button. Once he did so, a square panel on the front of the box slid open and a lens popped out. Another panel on the top of the box and on the back slid back as well, revealing another set of buttons and a screen. He turned the device around again and saw his knee on the screen.

"You made me a camera...?" Rai asked, looking up at his boyfriend. Jack nodded. It seemed that he had been watching the Brazilian the whole time, his own present forgotten in his lap.

Jack reached over and tilted the camera so that the top of the box was facing him. There was an array of buttons: your typical play, pause, forward, and rewind button, a record button, a delete button, a set of arrows, and a green button with three triangles on it.

"What does that do?" Rai pointed at the odd button and Jack grinned.

"Watch," he said simply, then pressed the button. The other sides of the box opened, two little propellors unfolding. Two panels on the bottom opened as well, small jets of air helping it stay afloat. "Camerabot, record. Camerabot, focus on Rai."

The device lifted itself out of Rai's hands and floated in the air about a foot away. Rai grinned widely at the camera and gave a little wave.

"Camerabot, get a full body shot," Jack added with a smirk. The robot moved away from Rai so it could capture more of him.

"That's an original name for it," Rai stated with a laugh. He stared at the device for a moment before deciding to stand. The camera moved as well, maintaining the same distance between them.

"Wow, Spicer," Kimiko commented, "That's pretty neat! You made that all by yourself?"

The redhead nodded, his smirk changing into a genuine smile. "Yeah. It's not hard to get parts when you're rich, as I'm sure you know."

"Still, it takes some real smarts to get it to fly around like that," she said, giving Jack a smile of her own. "So you really are more than some rich brat, huh?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "You know what, I'll let you make that decision on your own."

Rai was jumping up and down, watching the camera move with him. "Damn, Jackie! This is awesome. But are you the only one who can command this thing?"

"Of course not. Why don't you try to tell it something?"

"Uh." Rai studied the device for a moment. "Camerabot, focus on... Jack's ass!"

The camera went around the Brazilian and floated behind Jack's back. The redhead scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Camerabot, focus on Rai's ass!"

Behind the couple, the other students heaved a collective sigh and returned to their own presents. Clay helped tie a locket around Kimiko's neck, and afterwards Kimiko placed a new ten gallon hat on his head. Omi helped himself to some new books, both fiction and non fiction, and a brand new computer from Jack.

"Here, let me help you set this stuff up," Kimiko offered to the smaller student, sitting down with him. Clay sat behind them to monitor the pair, in case either one of them flew off the handle.

Once Rai and Jack had settled their camera dispute - it floated around both of their heads now, capturing them together - they sat down by the tree again. It was Jack's turn to open his gift from Rai.

"Err," Raimundo started, a blush rising to his cheeks, "I know that you can get anything you want since you're so fucking loaded and all, so- don't laugh, okay? I- I tried."

Jack smiled and kissed Rai on the cheek. "I won't. Getting something from you means more to me than anything I could buy."

"You're such a sap," the Brazilian said, though his blush remained.

Jack's gift was in a small box, small enough to fit in both of his wide hands. He unwrapped it gingerly, as if savoring the moment. When he lifted the lid, he found a necklace with an amber stone in the middle, flanked on both sides with smaller, dark stones.

"It's, um, amber and obsidian," Rai explained, "They're both said to help with negative energies and stress. And- The amber- Since you remind me of... You know, your hair and your eyes-"

"You're stuttering," Jack said with a soft smile, "I remind you of what?"

"Fire," Rai admitted, "Like- candle flames. Embers. With so much destructive potential..." The brunet placed a hand on Jack's pale cheek. "Obsidian comes from fire- from volcanoes. It's glass. But people have used it in lots of ways, since forever. Like how you use metal and minerals, and we... all come from earth, and... You know."

He pulled his hand back, still blushing. "It's kind of embarrassing to think about things like that, but I grew up with a spiritual family."

"Don't be like that. It's true, in a way." Jack cupped Rai's cheeks and gave him a warm kiss. "Come on, help me put it on."

Rai kneeled behind the redhead and slipped the necklace over his throat. "Um, there's one more thing- under the- yeah, that."

Jack lifted the felt that the necklace had been on. Another piece of jewelry sat beneath it, a deep red jewel set into a gold ring.

"This is real?" Jack asked, turning to look his boyfriend in the eyes. Rai nodded.

"Yeah. Ruby. More red for you," he said with a laugh. "Um. Don't ask how much it cost, or anything like that."

The self-proclaimed genius chuckled as well. "Alright, alright. So what does this mean?"

"Um. It- brings the wearer love. Also said to help with passion and sex." Rai grinned. "Not that we'll need any help with that, I'm sure." He paused. "It's also a symbol of devotion."

Now it was Jack's turn to blush. "Oh. So. Where should I wear it?"

Rai reached out and took the ring with one hand. He held onto Jack's left with his other hand. "Here. I don't think anyone'll think you're engaged, since it's a ruby and not a diamond."

He slid it onto his ring finger, then gave Jack's hand a squeeze. "So do you like it?"

"Of course." Jack turned around so that he was facing Rai. "Now no one'll ever have to wonder if I'm gay ever again."

Rai grinned wryly. "As if the make up wasn't a huge giveaway?"

"Oh shut up, you."

Kimiko, Clay, and Omi approached the two once they looked like they were settled. "Alright, it's time for you to open our presents now!"

Jack smiled so widely his cheeks were getting sore. This was more than he could have ever dreamed of.

* * *

It was around three thirty in the morning when Rai's friends left. The Brazilian had freed Jack of his shirt so that he could see how his new jewelry looked against his skin.

"God, you're so pale," Rai said with a dreamy sigh, "Like snow. Or milk. Or cream, or sugar..." He licked his lips.  
Jack started to blush, his pale throat reddening in moments. "You look like you want to eat me."

"What if I do?" Rai grinned, then opened his mouth to scrape his teeth across Jack's skin. "You look like some sort of god, all dolled up in your jewelry and make up. And I get you all to myself." He hummed and licked his lips again. "I do, don't I? Can't I have you?"

Jack blushed more deeply. "Y-Yeah, if you want me."

"I do. I do, I do, I do," Rai murmured, burying his face in Jack's skin. "Did you enjoy yourself today?"

"Hmm?" Jack looked up a bit, but his boyfriend was too busy rubbing his face against his chest to meet his gaze. "Yeah. It was... It was great. To have people around at this time of year. I mean, Christmas is just some commercial crap to get people to buy shit, but you guys brought meaning to it..."

The redhead brought his hands to his face. "Goddamn that sounds cheesy."

"I'm glad you liked it, though," Rai said. He raised his head and gave Jack a warm smile.

"Worth hauling that christmas tree into our room?"

"Yep, worth every crick in my back."

Jack hummed, slipping a hand under Rai's shirt. He rubbed the bronze skin hidden from view, his fingertips pressing against the lean muscle.

"Is it too late to make up for that?" Jack asked, moving his other hand under the Brazilian's shirt.

"If you're offering me a massage, there's no way I'm gonna pass up on that," Rai replied, raising his head to grin at the redhead.

"Then get up, cock-muncher," Jack said, smacking Rai lightly on the ass. They grinned at each other as Raimundo sat up, relieving Jack of his weight. The self-proclaimed genius caught him before he could lie down, however.

"Not so fast." His deft hands found the hem of Rai's shirt and stripped him of it quickly. The fingerless gloves were the next victims, falling by the side of the bed.

Rai wiggled his ass in the air as he settled onto his forearms. Jack put an end to it by taking a seat on the plush rump. He set to work quickly, his calloused fingers rubbing away any tension in Rai's back. The Brazilian was purring in no time.

"Hehe, what's this?" Rai tried to shimmy again, resulting in some friction between his bottom and Jack's hips. "Enjoying yourself there, Jackie?"

Jack bit back a groan. He was starting to get hard, his cock almost flush against Rai's ass between the layers of fabic clothing them. Not to mention the sounds his boyfriend was making were heavenly.

"Maybe," he murmured, "It's definitely hard not to."

"Yeah, I can see that you're hard, alright." Rai lifted his ass as much as he could with the redhead seated on him. "Come on, get up. There's one more gift I want to give you..."

An aroused flush built up in Jack's cheeks as he moved off Rai's body, allowing the brunet to roll over. His thumbs found their way into the waistband of Jack's jeans.

They exchanged grins again. Yep, Jack loved where this was going...

* * *

A/N: Merry Christmas in July again! Wow, has it really been years since I last updated this? Anyway, I'm watching the show again, and I was just inspired. Hopefully I'll be able to finish this. Anyway, hope you liked! Sex in the next chapter, woohoo!


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